Why Don't You Love Me?
by SkullBunnie
Summary: Misunderstandings. Misinterpretations. Jealousy. Takes place after recent events Kyouko has won the role and it is forcing her to confront her feelings Ren sees something he wishes he hadn't but desperately tries to contain his anger for fear of chasing Kyouko out of his life They're both so clueless and hopeless, that even Shou feels sorry for them M for future chapters
1. Little Do You Know

**A/N So this came out of nowhere. The time line format here is a little mixed up but I hope it's not too complicated to understand.**

 **See I can't wake up I'm living a nightmare**  
 **That keeps playing over again**

 **Hope you like it.**

An intricately decorated box fell to the ground. Within the box was an expensive present that Kyouko would have, no doubt, attempted to refuse and only accepted reluctantly after scolding him about spending too much money on her. His vision blurred as a wave of nausea rushed over him. The scene before him was too much for him to take in. This wasn't something he wanted to see but he was paralyzed by the nightmare unfolding before his eyes. Inhaling a deep breath, he felt his heart cracking at the sight of her in the arms of another man. In the arms of _that_ man and allowing his lips to descend on hers.

Bending down he hefted the present into his hands, it felt heavy, as if he had no strength left within him. Shamefully he had allowed himself to hope that she had missed him. When they spoke on the phone earlier she sounded excited when he told her that he might stop in to eat at the Darumaya. Her voice had even swooned sweetly when she suggested that he get a private room and she could be his waitress. Of course she couldn't have guessed that she had painted a rather erotic scenario in his head, still it made his heart jump to think she would be happy to see him. However, when he had showed up he spotted her calmly speaking with Shou. As they walked towards the singer's car he took her hand and stopped her. Ren waited for her to slap her arch nemesis away. He waited for the curses and threats, for her to become sickened by the mere notion of sharing the same air as him. But then she smiled up at him and said something in what looked to be a sad, consoling manner. Ren watched as Shou pulled her closer to him and said something that made her blush a light pink. To his relief Kyouko did back away from Shou and shook her head negatively looking a little pained.

If that had been all there was, Ren would have let it go. Later he might have asked and been fine with an explanation like, 'we decided to be friends. I no longer want to hold a grudge.' Or even better, 'I can't hate him anymore because, if it wasn't for him I'd have never met you.'

However, in an instant of insanity perhaps, or a moment of being manipulated, Kyouko nodded to some request that Shou had made. Then her eyes had drifted closed and she waited for him to kiss her. Bile rising to his throat Ren fell back and dropped the present he had intended to give her for white day.

To Kyouko's surprise the lunch with Shou and his parents had been pleasant. It was awkward at first to sit and listen to Shou being scolded, though she had imagined it would be enjoyable it was actually really scary. They screamed about the consequences of running away and how worried they had been, and that made her feel guilty. She wanted to prostrate herself before them and beg for forgiveness but when they finally turned the conversation to her, it was with smiles on their faces.

They spoke at length about upcoming projects she had and they questioned her about her health and eating habits. She assured them that despite her increasing workload, she hadn't been slacking in taking care of herself and that her agency would assign her a manager soon. About halfway through their conversation Kyouko excused herself to take a call. Her phone had vibrated in her pocket a few times before she noticed it and she worried that the agency was trying to contact her.

"Tsuruga-san?" Excitement filled her when she saw that she had two missed calls from Ren and he was calling her again. "Hello."

"Hi, Mogami-san, is this a bad time?" His voice made her smile as she replied that she was only able to talk for a few minutes. "That's strange, Yashiro-san informed me that you had the day off today."

"Did you need to see me for some reason?" She asked unaware of the smile that the thought of seeing him brought to her face.

Shou, on his way to the bathroom came across her and saw the look on her face. For a moment he thought about interrupting her call. He could walk right up to her and snatch the phone out of her hands. What would her beloved sempai think of him being at the restaurant where she lived? Shou wanted to tell off the older man and force him to finally accept that she belonged to him, except the look on her face was unlike any he had ever seen. He didn't know that Kyouko could look so, "happy," he whispered sadly. It wasn't an easy sight for him to see, because even when she was with him there had been a constant sadness in her eyes.

"Shoutaro, can I speak with you?" His mother asked sneaking up behind him. Taking note of the forlorn look on her sons face she steered him away from the scene. It served him right, she thought, still she didn't want him to stand around suffering and spying on Kyouko.

By the time Shou's parents decided to leave, they had shared nearly every detail of their lives in Tokyo with them. Kyouko had tried to gloss over some of the things about Tsuruga-san but she suspected Yayoi had seen straight through her.

"I'd like to meet him someday. Next time we visit can you try to bring him with? And Kotonami-san, since they're both important to Kyouko, I want to know them." Yayoi decided before they left the two childhood friends behind.

"I bet your sempai would love that. Meeting the parents as if they were his in laws or something." Shou gagged.

Kyouko rolled her eyes choosing to ignore his remark. "Have a nice evening, Shoutaro. Thank you for attempting to be tolerable today." She turned to walk back into the restaurant but Shou called out to her.

"Walk with me to the car." His words were formed as a demand but his tone made it sound like a request. There was a first time for everything, Kyouko thought raising an eyebrow at him.

"What are you scared some stalker fan of yours will jump you again. That was a hilarious story by the way, thanks for telling me." She gave him a smile that said she'd find a way to use the story against him someday.

"No, I wanted to talk to you about something." He raised his hands up innocently. "No tricks, I just have something to say."

"Then say it." The happy mood she had been in was beginning to sour, until she looked up into pained blue eyes. "What is it?"

 **A/N I find myself liking Shou a little more every time he shows up. I always saw him and Kyouko as siblings, he's like a toned down version of Cain. He wants Kyouko to belong only to him, but he doesn't seem to actually want to do anything with her. More like an overprotective brother than a man realizing he likes the girl he took for granted. I dunno maybe his feelings are deeper than that but I just don't see it. On another note, I looked up his eye color because I figured I was mistaken thinking they were blue but it turns out that they actually are blue. I wonder why?**


	2. My Kind of Love

**A/N**

 **Locked in a room so hung up on you**

 **And you're cool with just being friends**

"If you had been someone else's son, your father would have beaten you within an inch of your life, for what you did to the girl he raised." Shou's mother berated fixing an icy glare on him. "I would like to believe that had another man mistreated her, you would have done something similar about it." He would have told her that he had done his best to protect Kyouko from the beagle, but he knew that Kyouko had purposely omitted that particular experience from their conversation. "Wouldn't you hate that man, even a little? If he told the little girl you grew up with that she was worthless to him, would you think that man deserved to live?"

In his heart Shou imagined Ren treating Kyouko the way he had, and his hatred for the man grew. But from what he had seen, Tsuruga Ren would never do something like that. From what Shou had witnessed of her on the phone, he seemed to be someone who treated her very well.

"Say something to make me believe that I haven't raised a completely rotten son." Yayoi demanded.

Shou looked down, wondering when his mother had become so small. She had always been such a strong and overbearing presence, more so than even his father. Now she looked aged and weakened by something, and he thought that maybe that was his fault. Her worry for the two people she loved most had turned her hair gray, and given her wrinkles. This woman before him seemed even more frightening than the one who screamed at him, because when she looked like this he feared she might start to cry.

"I hate it when she cries." Yayoi blinked at him taken aback by his honest confession. "I don't think he plans to make her cry. That reason alone should be enough for me to give her up, but like a child I want to scream that she was always meant to be mine. She was mine first and he had no right to sneak his way into her heart." He bit down on his tongue fighting back the rush of emotions that threatened to bring tears to his eyes.

"Thank you." Yayoi patted him on the back sneaking a peak around the corner of the hallway they were hiding in. "Don't worry I don't think anyone has discovered how uncool you really are." She joked lightly, knowing how much her son hated to be seen when he felt weak. "You could try though, you know. To steal her back. At the very least I think you should find out if there really are no lingering feelings left for you in her heart."

Shou replayed his conversation with his mother in his head as Kyouko walked him to the waiting car. He was resolved to find out if their relationship could be salvaged at this point. Even if her heart had begun to sway towards Ren, that didn't erase the years they'd had together. She had even softened her attitude towards him lately. Foolishly he grasped at this lingering hope that she might return to his side.

"Can I kiss you." He asked nervously. The probability of her saying no was high, but he was more afraid of what might happen if she said yes. What would happen if they kissed each other with all the emotions in their hearts? He wanted to know what his own heart felt, as well as hers.

"Really Shoutaro, I thought you said this wasn't a trick?" Kyouko took a step back shaking her head at him.

"It isn't." He snapped irritated that he was trying to bear his heart and she was acting as if it was a joke. "If I kiss you and you feel nothing, then we'll both finally know that you no longer love me. You might scream over and over that you hate me, but isn't this obsession just you trying to hold onto me?" Seeing that he was irritating her, Shou added. "It's the same for me too. I seem to be addicted to pissing you off. If we kiss and confirm our feelings, then maybe we could repair our relationship."

Sighing heavily Kyouko surprised them both by nodding her agreement. "Fine, give me a moment." She closed her eyes and imagined a character similar to herself, but with a different name. That way she would be able to say that it was an act, a weak one but she was only using it to ease her guilty conscience.

There was a gentle press of his lips to hers and she had to admit that it wasn't unpleasant. It was rather like a distant memory, like a dream she once had but no longer had any need for. It was warm and held a certain sense of security, but her heart wasn't pounding, she didn't feel the blush in her cheeks or the excitement of what he could do to her, and the warmth didn't travel anywhere but to her lips. When Ren touched her face she felt warm all over. If she were kissing Ren she was sure her mind would imagine sinfully blush worthy situations.

Shou pulled away and sighed. He hadn't been prepared for the complete lack of emotions from his own heart. Looking at her he tried to see her in a new light. He tried to think of her as a woman he could lust after. All his mind could concede to was that she was a pretty girl, but that wasn't what made her special to him. What did her looks matter? She was still a boring woman who thought of nothing but fairy tales and love. She was annoying and trusting and naive and Shou had to protect her from Tsuruga Ren before he hurt her. Shou wanted to protect her from all those men who would take advantage of a pretty girl who was too innocent for her own good. He wanted to protect her, but he had no desire to kiss her.

"Well that was it then, I guess. We have nothing between us." Kyouko said looking a little sad.

"Yeah, just what I thought." Shou said obnoxiously patting her on the head. "Be good, kid." In an instant her mood shifted and she shoved his hand away.

"What's with the attitude? You asked for the kiss! Stupid brat! And you were rude earlier, I remember you called your dad, 'old man,' what kind of ungrateful son does that?"

"Yeah, whatever. Behave yourself Kyouko. I don't want to hear about any scandals." He patted her head again causing her to seethe and shove him away.

"I knew you were only messing with me. What the hell is wrong with you? To think you had the nerve to touch these lips again." She wiped at her mouth vigorously. "And I actually let you. What the hell is wrong with me?"

Chuckling Shou took her by the shoulders. "I hope that if he ever hurts you, you won't hesitate to call me. Because we're friends and I actually do want you to be happy." He scoffed at the instant blush that colored her cheeks understanding better than she did what it meant. "I don't even have to say his name for you to become flustered. You're such a stupid love struck woman."

"Who's stupid? Stop touching me Shoutaro, I would never call you for any reason! Where are you going? I'm not done yelling at you!" He entered the car, settling into the backseat as Kyouko screamed at him through the door.

"Bye, Kyouko." he laughed waving at her shrinking figure as his driver drove away. "My stupid love struck best friend."

 **A/N: New Skip beat chapter made me depressed. Like just give her the role stupid director, your niece has no pride as an actress.**


	3. You

**Left on the sidelines**  
 **Stuck at a red light**

Ren pulled her back tight to his chest with his arm wrapped around her shoulders, locking her arms to her sides. His other hand slid over her smooth skin, dipping between her thighs to elicit soft moans. She felt trapped but not afraid as she surrendered her body to him. Feeling his fingers reach inside of her Kyouko arched up, her passionate cries growing louder.

His name rolled off her lips like nectar begging him for more. He drove his fingers inside of her, pumping faster and faster to drive her over the edge so that she could scream his name while her inner walls clamped down around his fingers.

Until that point it was his name. It was him that she cried for, clawing at his skin as if she wanted to crawl inside of it, to be part of him. He had brought out this carnal side of her, so why was it that when she finally reached her peak it wasn't his name on her lips? Why did she scream out the name of her abusive childhood friend when Ren had made her orgasm?

The distant sound of ringing startled Ren out of his nightmare. Tears of frustration and agony ran down his face. It wasn't the first time he had had an erotic dream of Kyouko. It wasn't even the first time she had said another name, but it was always still his name. One of his names echoed through his apartment, her voice heavy with lust. It left him confused by jealousy but in the end he always decided he didn't mind which version of him she preferred, as long as it was him.

"Why does it have to be him? Do you like being pushed around that much?" He asked the phone which was displaying her name as a missed call. Cocking his head, he continued to contemplate the four missed calls and three messages she had left. "If it is him you want, why have you been calling me since nine at night until now at three in the morning?"

It had only been the kiss he was after, a kiss goodbye, or a kiss to finally prove that she felt nothing towards him anymore. Maybe even a kiss of apology between two people who had once been friends.

"Tsuruga-san." Her voice came out weak and broken.

Shou had been gone for a while now and Kyouko was regretting even having lunch with him as if they were family. It was passed time for dinner but Kyouko couldn't bring herself to eat. Ren had said he would stop by and she wanted to eat with him. More than that she wanted to tell him what had happened and explain it to him before Shoutaro could twist it up and tell him something strange.

"Ren? Didn't you want to come see me? I know it's presumptuous to think that but it couldn't be the food you were stopping by for. There was something you wanted to say, I think. Or something you have to give me." She spoke to the doll sitting on the desk in front of her. "Is that wishful thinking?" Laying her head down on the desk she stared at her phone willing it to ring. "I beg you to stop making me feel so pathetic. Please miss me just a little bit, as a co-worker, as someone you share a secret mission with, as a friend. I'll even accept it being as a sister if I have to."

The tears streamed freely as she gave in to her own pitiful feelings. Heart racing, she picked up her phone and called Ren. The line rang and rang until the robotic voice informed her that Ren could not answer at the moment. It made her feel weaker and stupider than anything Shou had ever said to her. She rubbed her mouth at the thought of that stupid spoiled brat and his antics.

"Am I being punished for letting it happen again? I'm sorry I was stupid enough to believe his lame excuse." She cried unaware that she was speaking out loud into the phone that was recording her message. She shut off her phone and plugged it in for the night before crawling dejectedly over to her bed.

Unable to sleep she reached for her phone and her fingers automatically found his number to call him again. When the answering clicked over this time she purposely left a message asking him if he had supper. She expressed her concern that he hadn't stopped by and reminded him that he needed to take care of himself by eating properly. Hanging up she busied herself by cleaning and organizing her already clean room. An hour later after receiving no response she tried again, this time leaving a slightly more irritated message complaining about his rudeness. Shocked by her own words she panicked and berated herself for being rude herself towards her sempai.

"Forgive me Tsuruga-san. You must have been busy and I shouldn't scold a senior. I'm so sorry for leaving so many messages." After a pause she confessed. "I was looking forward to having dinner with you. It's been awhile since, ah, no forget I said anything."

She hung up embarrassed and intent on leaving him alone, but she found that she was unable to rest peacefully. Every time she fell asleep she had nightmares of never seeing him again. Fear gripped her heart as she envisioned him witnessing her with Shoutaro. The thought that he would hate her forced its way into her head. His disgusted face screamed, 'I never want to see you again.' It was after waking from another dream of him when she called him again, in tears and not thinking of anything except needing to hear his voice.

When he failed to answer for the fourth time she broke. Tears flowed freely down her face making her feel stupid, like a fool who kept reaching to touch the fire after experiencing the pain. In her rational mind she knew that he was more than likely asleep but her heart was screaming that it felt ignored and in that moment her heart was stronger than her mind. Her sobs were so loud she almost missed the ringing sound coming from her hand. Kyouko silently berated her heart for jumping with joy at the slightest response from him.

"Tsuruga-san, I'm sorry that I called you so late. Did I wake you? I'm sorry." She answered his call frantically.

"No, its fine." Despite his inner turmoil he wanted to treat her as if nothing had happened. He didn't want to scare her again. Knowing that their first few months of knowing each other had given her a negative view of him already. He didn't want to give her anymore reason to believe that he was quick to anger and would cast her out of his life. That was why he didn't intend to speak with her until he had time to calm down. She was so persistent though that he felt the need to hear her out. "I should be apologizing for standing you up. It wasn't very gentlemanly of me to not show up. I'm sorry for making you worry, and yes I did eat supper."

"What was it, something from the convenience store?" The thought that he'd rather eat junk food than stop in and see her at the Darumaya pissed her off.

"Sorry." He sighed wondering why she cared so much. The words, 'does your boyfriend know you're talking to me at this hour?' were on the tip of his tongue but he bit them back. This was not the time to throw accusations at her. "Don't you have work in a few hours? You should go to sleep."

"Right." They both staid on the phone waiting for the other to hang up. Kyouko ached to hear him say he had missed her. They hadn't seen each other since he came back to Tokyo. She had work and soon he would go back to his busy life, it would be a miracle if they saw each other again now that they weren't working together. Ren listened to her breathing, wanting to say so much, wanting to hear her deny what his eyes had seen.

"Goodnight, Mogami-san." Finally breaking the silence Ren waited for her to reply in kind.

"Goodnight," he hung up not wanting to hear her voice anymore, because he wanted to hear it too much. There were so many words he wished she'd say. "Ren." Kyouko whispered clutching her phone to her heart.

She released an unsteady sigh, her heart left unsatisfied by their conversation. It beat angrily against her chest as if demanding her to call him back.

 **A/N**

 **Yay! The reviews, follows and favorites are appreciated. Thank you.**


	4. For Your Entertainment

**A/N: You know I kind of like writing misunderstandings. It may be evil but I like tormenting Ren and Kyouko.**

 **Waiting for my time  
And I can't see**

Swords clashed together and two figures stood still holding each other's gaze. Golden eyes stared up with a mix of hurt and contempt, there was also a silent longing hidden within them that the tall man she was facing off with couldn't see. Her master narrowed his eyes down at her before using their connected blades to fling her down. Motioning for her to stay down he turned away from her to help another girl up off the ground.

Tears in her eyes Momiji fell into a bow on the ground requesting forgiveness. Her master walked passed her with Chidori, choosing to ignore her existence and tend to the other girl.

"Cut!" The director shouted as Kyouko raised her head to look wistfully at her master's form walking away from her. "What's that look? I don't like it the whole scene will have to be reshot." A collective sigh was released by the cast and crew, but it wasn't Kyouko they glared at, it was director Morizumi they had a problem with. The man analyzed every little flinch and called Kyouko out on the slightest detail, even the ones she couldn't help and often contradicted himself. If her wig became to messy after a fight scene and if her wig wasn't messy enough, he'd call cut. He demanded that she repeat her lines over and over stating that she needed to work on her inflection. It was becoming more and more clear to the crew that he was sour about his niece not getting the part. It wasn't only Kyouko he picked on, to a lesser degree he would harass Kanae as well. Everyone suspected that he would do it more to Kanae who had stolen the lead from Kimiko, if Kanae was less of a fighter. She challenged him to explain precisely what his problem was with a scene and if he couldn't name something specific she refused to reshoot things more than ten times. Kyouko on the other hand seemed to have her doubts about portraying certain emotions and director Morizumi seemed to learn which ones bothered her most.

Though some of the cast and crew wanted to stick up for the girl, Producer Kuresaki had forbid them to. "If she wants to keep the role she'll continue to do her best. And if his nagging bothers her, I want to hear her say so." He had said in a cool even tone as if he were bored of the situation.

"I didn't see a problem with it." A voice said curiously. Kyouko looked up unable to stop the smile creeping onto her face. Ren walked out of the shadows where he had been silently watching the filming. "All the actors showed their emotions sufficiently and the physicality that Koga-san showed towards such a tiny girl in a fight was impressive." His eyes narrowed slightly at Koga Hiromune, who was standing by Kanae looking just as exasperated as the rest of the cast. "If you had said that you wanted another angle or specified what it is you have a problem with, I wouldn't feel the need to speak up. As it is, I think you must have misspoken."

Director Morizumi was about to speak out against Ren when Producer Kuresaki placed a hand on his shoulder to push him down on his chair. It bothered him that the guy was working his actresses so hard. The pursuit of perfection was admirable but everyone knew that the director was only pretending to be a perfectionist.

"Tsuruga-san, to what do we owe this pleasure. As far as I know you were too busy to work on this project." Kuresaki said not bothering to hide his contempt. He had wanted the number one actor but had been shot down, now here he was loafing around on set.

"My manager hadn't informed me of the project until recently. If it had been up to me, I would have accepted a drama produced by the notable Kuresaki. It is true however that, had you stuck to the original film schedule, I would not have had the time. Even now my time is very limited." Ren gave the producer a slight bow then turned to Kyouko. "I only came to pay a visit to the two over there. They are part of my company and my president has asked that I check up on them every so often. He favors them, you see."

Kanae rolled her eyes at his explanation knowing that he had only come to see Kyouko for the sake of seeing Kyouko. Since it was supposed to be lunch time anyway she figured it would be harmless to convince him to buy the both of them lunch. He would probably appreciate the request seeing as he seemed to enjoy spending money on Kyouko.

"Reshoot the scene, then send them to lunch." Kuresaki said. "I want to talk with Tsuruga-san for a moment." Morizumi nodded pleased to have his way. Then Kuresaki added, "If you are still unsatisfied with it then perhaps we should hold a new casting. Delaying filming for another year and probably losing most of our other actors due to scheduling issues. Of course then I would demand that no repeat actresses need apply as I would never consider them anyway. No matter what their connections may be."

Morizumi gulped at the look Kuresaki gave him before ushering Ren to a secluded area. The director clenched his teeth in irritation turning to glare at the petite actress who was just too good for her own good.

"Places!" He demanded hoping to cause her to jump. Instead she threw him a look full of confidence and a little defiance. "Let's get it right this time." He sneered as Kanae and Kyouko got into place challenging each other.

"Water?" Kuresaki offered the actor as they sat off to the side where they wouldn't be heard by the cast or crew members.

"No thank you." Ren politely declined throwing glances at the stage where he could hear the director shouting again. "He seems less than professional. Why not threaten his job instead?"

Kuresaki ignored the question to ask one of his own. "Which one of them are you dating?" He asked, but he didn't sound as if he actually cared. "President Takarada doesn't favor them you're just a boring actor who doesn't want to cause a scandal. It's probably for the best that you weren't cast in this role. I happen to like scandals, they're good for publicity."

"The president does favor them though." Ren played dumb cocking his head and putting on a childish expression. "And I don't have a girlfriend."

"So Tsuruga-san can be turned down by a girl. Well that isn't important, what I wanted to speak with you about was having you come on for a role." Ren scowled at him not wanting to be handed a role for the sake of publicity. Even if he did want to be Kyouko's first love interest, it felt like being handed something stolen. If he had stolen it with his abilities, it would be different but this was just being given something because he was more popular. "Don't give me that look, it isn't the lead. I have my reservations about this since you are known for heroic roles and play the, hot shot who gets the girls guy, all the time, but desperate times you know." Seeing that Ren wasn't the least bit intrigued he explained. "Our lead villain dropped out. He's a violent samurai who hates Sakanoue Shizuma."

"It's like you say I play the hero. You already have a hero, a very popular one might I add. He should attract lots of fans." Ren gestured towards Koga Hiromune who was shoving Kyouko down.

Kuresaki noted the anger radiating off of Ren as he watched the girl on stage being handle so roughly. "Did I mention that the character falls in love with Momiji? He ends up capturing her twice, once to steal a kiss and in the final confrontation to prove to her that her master will choose Chidori over her every time. It's very tragic really, she dies fighting to protect her rival in love. If you were in that role, not only would you spend time with Kyouko-san, you would also kiss her and grope her. I don't think she's ever shot those sorts of scenes; wouldn't it be better if her first time was with someone who cares for her? Someone who would look out for her and not take advantage of her naivety?"

Ren tried to take the guy seriously but he sounded sleazy. Like a pimp coaxing a guy into buying a younger girl who cost more because she was untouched. Ren knew all he really wanted was the publicity his popularity would bring. With both himself and Koga-san, Kuresaki would be able to market them as a set of action figures. He could see them being forced onto all the talk shows having to act as rivals fighting for most huggable male entertainer no doubt.

"If you want me to take a role, discuss it with my manager. He has my schedule set for the next three years. I only know that I have the next few days off, then I'll be busy with projects." Ren smiled trying not to look over at Kyouko. He wondered if he was so obvious that someone who knew him so little could even tell, why couldn't Kyouko herself see his feelings for her?

"Fine have it your way. Kijima-san will do just as well I guess. But if he declines then we'll have to put out another casting call. This is becoming tiresome." Kuresaki stood up done with the conversation.

"Kijima?" Ren stopped him placing a hand on his arm.

"Yeah, Morizumi threw his name out as a first choice. Why are you and he in some sort of rivalry for that girl?" The way he asked personal questions while looking bored was starting to creep Ren out. It was like he was incapable of showing any expression other than apathy and disgust.

"Not exactly." Ren began, holding his head firmly in place so he wouldn't seek out Kyouko as he heard the director yell cut. "Kijima and I work together a lot, so we're actually pretty close, but I suppose since we play opposites a lot you could call us rivals. Next time I see him I want to be able to say that I'm not only the better hero, but also a better villain than him. I think I'll take the role, but you'll still have to discuss the schedule with Yashiro. I'm sure he'll be more than willing to accommodate you."

"Tsuruga-san?" Kuresaki attempted a smile and it was even more frightening than his blank stare. "Has anyone ever told you that you are a boring man?" He began to walk away. "It almost isn't worth trying to pick on you. Except I would like to know what kind of grown man can't tell a girl he likes her."

Kanae strolled over to them, following her energetic best friend. She wanted to tell the girl to calm down and inform her that her feelings were showing, but she figured Ren deserved a bone every once in a while. It didn't matter though anyway, as Kyouko calmed herself down when she got close enough to hear the producer say something. She watched Kyouko bow to Kuresaki and he walked passed her as if he didn't notice she existed. Expecting the energy to return to her Kanae scrunched her brows together when Kyouko slumped her shoulders slightly and took small steps towards her beloved sempai.

"Hi," Kanae wondered how Kyouko could be so blind to his obvious attraction to her. Even the way he said 'hi' sounded erotic and private. It even made her blush but Kyouko looked oddly sad.

"Tsuruga-san." Kyouko bowed stiffly catching the blush on her best friend's cheeks. Kuresaki had been staring straight at her when he had made his comment about Ren loving a seventeen-year-old. Why had she never noticed it before? When Ren confessed to Bo that he was in love all Kyouko had been concerned about was his ability to act out Katsuki, she hadn't bothered to figure out who it was he had a crush on. Kanae was sixteen t the time, and they had had the occasion to meet a handful of times. She had introduced them, Kyouko realized cursing her luck. Of all the people in the world for him to like it had to be her best friend and by the look on her face it didn't appear that Kanae would refuse him.

"Mo, what's with the politeness? The two of you are practically best friends at this point aren't you?" Kanae said taking a seat opposite Ren. Kyouko did her best to control the jealousy boiling up inside of her. At the very least she wanted to keep it from showing on her face. She managed a small smile as she stood near the table.

Best friends, she thought, like siblings? Her face did not betray the pain that her heart was causing. It was beating against her rib cage, daring her to stop it from jumping out of her and revealing her feelings.

"Mo, you two are tiresome. Since you're here as our sempai, does that mean you're buying lunch?" Kanae asked intending to help Ren out a little. She was going to get Kyouko to agree to Ren paying then she was planning to ditch them, using the excuse that she had to be back to set before Kyouko. Kyouko clenched her jaw and narrowed her eyes when Kanae called him her sempai.

"What? Kanae don't make such rude requests." Kyouko was a little harsher than any of them had expected. Her words dripped with malice and the atmosphere around them became heavy. Kanae had felt this before when Shou was mentioned, and a few times when she had first joined the love me section. Why was Kyouko suddenly so full of rage and why did it seem directed towards Kanae?

"Mogami-san, I really don't mind. In fact, I had intended to offer you lunch to make up for not showing last night." Kyouko shrunk down a little remembering herself as she pulled her grudges back into herself. It took some mental scolding to not take his words as if he had intended to only ask her. She didn't want to think that he wasn't using his connection to her in order to spend time with Kanae, but her bitter mind screamed the idea at her. Her broken heart ached to deny it but she watched as Kanae and Ren made plans for lunch without including her in the decision. It felt like watching the beginning of a love drama when the two characters first fall in love.

"Hey, you guys have room for one more?" Koga-san invited himself as a way of greeting them. He was a strangely over friendly man with little sense of propriety or the hierarchy of acting. "I must confess that I've always wanted to meet Ren." He said casually placing an arm over Kyouko's shoulders.

Kanae spotting the dangerous look Ren was giving Koga-san, she shot up and pulled Koga away from Kyouko.

"You know I think that I need to practice a couple of our scenes together. Maybe we should skip lunch." She suggested, "You two can go eat without us."

"You can't just not eat Moko-san." Kyouko felt bad for having so much anger towards her best friend. It wasn't as if Ren and Kanae were trying to hurt her, they couldn't help it if they liked each other, any more than she could stop herself from falling for Ren. "Do I have to start scolding you like I scold Ren? Eating is also part of being a proper actor. If you don't take care of yourself then you'll be too weak to act."

"Yeah, that's what I think too. I knew there was a reason I liked you, kid." Koga-san agreed unintentionally causing more trouble for himself.

Sighing Kanae gave up. "Fine, we'll all go to lunch together then." She gave Ren an apologetic look which he returned with a kind smile. Kyouko looked away not wanting to see them flirt. "I still think that our honorable sempai should pay though. As he did intend to offer and it would be rude for us to refuse, wouldn't it?"

Nodding Kyouko conceded, "I guess so." She was sure that Ren would want to pay for the girl he liked, and he was too polite to not offer to pay for everyone else.

"Hey I can pay for one of the girls. Like a double date. Kyouko-chan? Kanae-san? Which one of you will be my date?" He was teasing, not aware of what being in the love me section meant.

"They don't date." Ren said stiffly standing up and placing himself in front of Kyouko.

"LME doesn't permit you guys to date?" Koga-san was shocked but he laughed it off. "I thought it was strange that a guy as handsome as you never had a girlfriend. But it wouldn't be really a date, I was only joking. Let me pay for one. Kanae?" He seemed to take the hint that Kyouko was off limits, the way Ren had positioned himself beside her as they walked. Koga wanted to laugh at how careful Ren was to stay between Kyouko and him.

"If Kotonami-san doesn't object." Ren shrugged and Kanae gave a small slightly irritated whatever.

Kyouko wanting to do what she could for Ren and Kanae objected. "I'll pay for myself then." Koga stopped in his tracks to examine Ren's face. A boisterous laugh emitted from him at the sight of a hurt Ren.

"You're too funny Kyouko-chan. But you can't hurt a man's ego like that. It's bad for his image." Koga laughed again after receiving confused looks from all three of them. Two of them were trying to figure out why Koga was trying to help Ren and Kyouko was genuinely confused by his statement. "Just think if word got out that Tsuruga-san doesn't insist on paying for a girl that he took out to eat. Feminism aside, in the acting word for guys who play the hero role like us, it's important that we behave with chivalry." He smiled sweetly down at her. "So Ren and I should split the bill, right?"

"Yes." Kyouko's timid reply was cute and Koga understood why someone like Ren would like her. She's a good kid, he thought wanting to pat her head, but deciding that he liked the use of his hands.

Watching Kanae and Koga chat in front of them Kyouko turned her head up to Ren. He smiled at her wishing it were just the two of them.

"I'm sorry, Tsuruga-san, you shouldn't have to pay for me." She pouted holding her hands over her heart in an attempt to control the rage and pain.

"I don't mind, Mogami-san. It was my plan all along to take you out to eat for lunch. I said so earlier didn't I?" She nodded not trusting her voice. "Won't you be happy to know that I've eaten at least one healthy meal?" He asked bending to see her face more clearly. Kyouko stopped walking caught off guard by his sudden closeness. She nodded again attempting a smile. "Hey, what's wrong?" Ren reached a hand up to her face, but she took a step back to avoid his gentle touch.

"I'm just a little tired." She supplied an easy excuse. Though he knew she had been on the phone with him, his brain played a much different reason for her to be tired. His nightmare hit him like a lightning bolt and Kyouko was frozen by his sudden anger.

"Tonight, you should get some sleep. You have no place scolding others about taking care of themselves when you don't take care of yourself." He chided her before walking on ahead of her.

 **A/N: Damn I have to name that character now. Double damn I have to think of what Ren would get Kyouko for white day. Suggestions? I hope that Koga-san doesn't fall in love with Kyouko. It's a little irritating when nearly every new guy falls for the main character. Though I feel Kyouko only attracts the alpha males, Ren and Shou obviously and also Reino is the leader of the beagles and Hikaru is the leader of his group, even all could be considered alphas, even Kijima. Still I find it annoying that so many guys like her and Kanae only gets Hiou, not that I don't like him, I'm just not sold on their relationship since he is so young.**


	5. Suave

**Why don't you love me**

Lips pressed together in a grim line Kyouko listened to the conversation between her sempai and her best friend. A different conversation she had filed away as something she didn't want to think about suddenly resurfaced in her mind. In that conversation Ren had thought he was speaking to a stranger in a chicken costume, when he had confessed to being in love with Kanae. And that damned chicken encouraged him to pursue his feelings. She cursed herself wishing she could erase that conversation from existence. But he'd said he couldn't love someone hadn't he? He said that, he swore not to pursue a relationship with her. So what the hell was he doing now, being friendly with her and sitting beside her at the table? They had stopped at a small restaurant and were seated in a more private area reserved for celebrities. Kyouko sat across from Ren glaring at her best friend beside him. It wasn't fair for her to suddenly take her place like that. Weren't they going to at least take time to build a relationship?

Kanae took another bite of her food, grateful she didn't have to pay after seeing the alarming prices on the menu. Despite that she was quickly becoming annoyed with her company. Koga kept trying to start conversations with the three of them and only Kyouko would respond to him, but that only earned him death glares from Mr. Obvious. Kanae wished she didn't have to join Kyouko and her sempai. It irked her the way Kyouko seemed desperate to please him all of a sudden, and Kanae was sure that his sour mood had something to do with that. She hadn't even objected when Ren pulled out her chair for her and seated himself opposite of her as if they were on a real date. Kanae hated to admit that she had wanted to sit next to Kyouko so they could gasp at the menu prices together, but she had already been sitting when he held out the chair for Kyouko. She glared at Ren for a moment thinking him inconsiderate to put Kyouko on that side. Here she was actually trying to help him and he was only thinking of himself. Finished with her food Kanae watched the two actors fail at pretending to not be acutely aware of each other. She was still unsure of Kyouko's feeling but it was clear that Ren was too in love to hide it anymore.

"Eat your vegetables Ren." Ren obeyed, taking large bites of his food. Kanae supposed so he could finish eating faster. There was a clear display if distaste on his face but he did not object when Kyouko placed more vegetables on his plate. "Here, try some of this." She spoke sweetly as she lifted her own chopsticks up for him to try what she was eating. Kanae scrutinized them, her brows scrunching together as she tried to make sense of this scene. She repeated Kyouko's words in her mind picking apart the sentences trying to pinpoint what she found so strange about the words. "Ren, don't be such a baby. That wasn't enough food to make you sick." Ren's head fell to the table and he held up his hand in prayer, begging for respite.

Eyes wide Kanae looked at Koga to confirm what she had just heard but he only smiled unaware of the strangeness of the situation. He was probably assuming the two had that sort of relationship. The two were acting as if this was normal for them. How had he gotten so close to her without Kanae noticing? She knew that Kyouko had eaten with him more than a few times while working on Dark Moon, had he somehow convinced her that it was normal for a sempai to be fed his food like a child? More than that Kanae had to find out when Kyouko started speaking to him in such an intimate manner.

"Kyouko?" Golden brown eyes looked up at her. The words, 'when did you start calling him, Ren,' got stuck in her throat as her friend smiled innocently at her.

"Yes, Moko-san?" Kyouko asked her chopsticks now halfway to her own mouth.

Quickly Kanae reassessed the situation noting that not only was Kyouko mindlessly feeding Ren, he wasn't acting as if it were anything special. They didn't even seem to notice their own behavior or the fact that Kyouko had been calling him by name. There was a sad smile on Kyouko's face which confused Kanae. They were acting in such a stupid lovey couple manner that she should be flustered and blushing not sad.

"Would you split some ice cream with me?" Kanae asked in a haste to find a neutral topic. "I'm sure Tsuruga-san wouldn't mind."

Kyouko had to turn her head to hide the sudden pang of jealousy as Ren agreed to pay for their ice cream, at Kanae's request. She clenched her jaw remembering how the other day Kanae was complaining that Kyouko thought too highly of the man. She had insisted that the only reason he was more popular and famous was because he had been in the industry longer than they had. Admitting that he had talent but also stating that it was equal parts of luck and timing that had him sitting pretty on the top. Kyouko had felt an angry almost hateful aura when they had discussed Ren, and that worried her. They were both her friends, and she didn't want to take sides, but wasn't it wrong for Kanae to have such a sudden change of heart. She had accused Ren of being a playboy, but now she worried that it was her best friend who might end up playing him. After all, he was in love enough that he was able to create a Katsuki who surpassed the original.

Irrationally angry she opened her mouth to curse her best friend, but closed it knowing better than that. Kanae wasn't cruel, she was nice and generous. She was beautiful and if she did fall in love with Ren, Kyouko was sure that the two of them would do their best to not hurt each other. She wanted to be happy for both of them, but there was an unexpected hatred towards her best friend that made Kyouko wish she could hate Ren. If only she could stop loving him, then she would be free to support Kanae. As it was she felt like Kanae was stealing something from her. At the same time, it was like Ren was taking Kanae away too, and Kyouko wasn't sure which loss was breaking her heart more. Who would she have, if they had each other?

Inside of her mind her grudges were swarming, demanding that she exact revenge. But which one was she supposed to begrudge? When she knew all too well that you couldn't force your heart to stop beating faster for the wrong person, how could she blame either of them for falling in love?

"Mogami-san?" Ren touched her hand lightly, drawing her out of her thoughts. Briefly Kyouko hesitated, almost returning his gentle touch but then she pulled her hand away from him.

"Yes? Uh, yes I'll share some ice cream with you." It took all she had to turn and look at Kanae, even then she couldn't lift her eyes to meet hers.

"Hey me too!" Koga spoke up as Ren ordered the ice cream. "I'd always heard Ren was a nice guy. Never thought you'd be this generous." He commented trying to lighten the heavy atmosphere that was settling over them. He turned to look at Kyouko who seemed to be the source of the dark cloud that was falling over them.

Kanae not sure what to do made a motion for Ren to fix Kyouko. She was in the dark place again and for the life of her Kanae couldn't figure out why. She looked around to see if she could spot the usual source of her anger somewhere in the restaurant. He was nowhere to be seen but Kimiko and her uncle were seated several tables away from them. Kimiko cast glances over to their table whispering to her uncle about some useless scheme. Her eyes lingered a little too long whenever they came to Kyouko. Kanae caught her attention and stared her down, daring her to try something. The coward sneered before returning her attention to the food on her plate.

Following her gaze Koga gave a soft chuckle. "I'm glad Kyouko-chan won the role over, I have no desire to work with someone who resorts to dirty schemes to win." Kyouko's ears perked up at the mention of schemes. She looked to see who they were staring at then she turned to Koga guessing that he must know what happened to Erika. "I mean we were all set to film before and I liked that actress before as well. She was a dancer, poor girl. I can't imagine what it must be like to be confined to a chair. Poor Eri…"

"Uh!" without thinking Kyouko slapped her hand over his mouth so hard he had to grip the table to keep his chair from toppling over with him in it. It was a reflex from keeping Erika's secret. She didn't want Kanae to know that she had lost the role due to being temporarily paralyzed. It wasn't so important that she had to keep others from telling Kanae that the role of Momiji originally belonged to Erika. But she had been avoiding the subject for so long it had become a habit to stop other people from talking about it.

"Umm. I'm sorry. I don't want to talk about things like that. It makes me feel like Momiji might be cursed or something." She shivered for emphases knowing her two closest friends would see through her lie if she didn't commit to it.

Ren chuckled standing to switch places with Kanae so the two could share their ice cream that was being placed on the table. Kyouko watched them pass each other, her heart jumped when Kanae sat across from her. To share ice cream with someone who she could call her best friend had been a dream of hers for as long as she could remember. That didn't stop the cream from leaving a bitter taste in her mouth. Every bite was so cold that it burned her throat leaving it feeling constricted. If it the situation wasn't already bad enough, now she was lying and keeping secrets from Kanae. True it wasn't her secret to tell, but it still felt wrong. Secret? She ruminated over the word thinking that she had forgotten something important. Warm brown eyes smiled at her when she looked up at Ren remembering that she had yet to tell him about Shoutaro and the kiss.

"Tsuruga-san?" He made no attempt to hide the fact that he'd been staring at her while she ate figuring she wouldn't notice anyway.

"Yes, Mogami-san?" Still keeping his eyes fixed on her, staring at the bit of cream on her bottom lip, he waited for her to continue speaking.

"When we go back to set, I won't have a scene to shoot for another hour or so. Do you think you could hang around for a while?" She asked not sure if she would rather he declined so she wouldn't have to tell him, or if she wanted to get it over with. Keeping secrets from him was something she had decided she wouldn't do. There was only the one secret that he could never know and that was already more than she could handle. "That is if you don't mind, Tsuruga-san. I have something that I need to speak with you about."

Kanae squinted her eyes wanting to know what Kyouko was going to tell Ren. Was there a secret that she couldn't know about or did Kyouko just want an excuse to keep her sempai around longer? Was she going to confess her feeling. Though she was pretty sure she Kyouko held deeper feelings for the man Kanae was annoyed that she wouldn't be the first one Kyouko was planning to tell. She wanted her friend to confide in her and secretly gossip about the tall actor who may or not be the object of her affections. After all, Kyouko was love me member number one, there was no way she had progressed to the point of identifying the true nature of her idol worship of him.

Ren sucked in a harsh breath realizing that she must want to tell him about her kiss with, _that guy._ At first he had thought that he wanted to know the details but suddenly he wasn't so sure. His heart pounded as he tried to come up with a good excuse to not hear her explanation for the moment she couldn't have known he had seen. If he was forced to sit through her confess that she was still in love with _him_ , he might not be able to control himself. His feelings could burst out uncontrollably and then he would say things that he could never take back, and she'd know everything.

"Speaking of heading back, I think it's about time for us to do that." Koga announced sounding mature and serious all of a sudden. "Tsuruga-san thank you so much for taking care of us?" Jokingly he mimicked Kyouko's manners, standing up and bowing. "Such a doting sempai Kyouko has." Winking at Ren he paused, then looked at Kyouko. "You're a lucky kid to have someone looking out for you." Koga put emphases on his words trying to convey to Kyouko what he was sure everyone else could see.

 **A/N sorry for such a filler chapter but the next one will be out soon ok. thank you for reading.**


	6. Better?

**Touch me, tell me I'm your everything  
The air you breathe**

Kyouko tried to speak, but she couldn't. How could she explain to him that Shou had taken advantage of the situation? She wanted to say that she had been caught up in the nostalgia of being with his parents. But she wasn't sure if she could convey her emotions in a way that he'd understand.

"Tsuruga-san please listen. I have to say something before I lose my nerve." Ren shook his head. He didn't want to hear about her feelings for Shou. He'd seen that kiss, and he could imagine the trust and love it must have taken for her to get back together with him.

"No. Don't say anything, please, I don't want to hear it. We had a nice lunch together, let's leave it at that." The first message she had left him the night before had confirmed her feelings hadn't it. She had asked if she were being punished for letting it happen again, and he knew she couldn't have seen him there. The only thing she could have been talking about was falling in love with Fuwa again. "I know enough already and it pisses me off just thinking about it. I know you can't help the way you feel, but damn it Kyouko I thought you were smarter than this!" Tears stung her eyes and she bit her bottom lip to stop herself from crying in front of him. Why was he angry with her before she told him what happened? Suddenly she wished she had gone with Kanae to her dressing room. Her friend had wanted to speak with her about something and she said it was important, but Kyouko really needed to tell Ren what had happened.

"It's okay, Mogami-san. I know that you're a smart girl and that you must have been fighting your feelings." He leaned against his car arms crossed over his chest as if they could protect his heart from her words. "You should get back to set and get your hair and makeup fixed."

"My feelings? You know how I feel?" Her voice quivered with fear as she fought to find the words to deny the truth. How could he know? "No, I mean, you're mistaken." He was the last person she wanted to find out. The only person who shouldn't know what a foolish woman she was.

"Please don't lie to me. It isn't as if you've been hiding it. Not successfully at least. Your message last night confirmed it didn't it?" He scoffed thinking of all the times he'd caught her with Shou.

"Last night?" A sob lodged itself in her throat as she ran over her messages filled with concern over his eating habits. Why had she called him so many times? "I'm sorry. It's not like I planned on feeling this way. I can't help it; my heart won't listen to me."

She prepared herself for his next words. This was it. He would tell her that he never wanted to see her again. Call her a stupid wanton woman and shut himself off from her.

"Tell me you're too smart to keep repeating the same mistake!" His hands raised ready to take her by the shoulders and give her a good shake.

Seeing his movement, she took a step closer to him, hoping that he wouldn't say that he never wanted to see her outside of work again. He shrank away from her not wanting to be touched by her if she was never going to be his.

"Please, don't hate me." Kyouko tried to comprehend this conversation. How had things gotten to this point? All she had wanted to do was tell him what had happened. It was to satisfy her own selfish need to be close to him, and she worried that maybe she was being punished. Was god telling her to stop trying to take what already belonged to another girl? She refused to think of her Kanae and the Kanae he was in love with as the same person. There was just no way she could accept them without feeling like she had lost both of them.

"Hate you? How can you still not get it? Are you so blinded, so fixated on your own feelings that you can't even notice anyone else's?" His jaw clenched holding back the vicious words his tongue wanted to spew at her. The jealous bitter beast with in him wanted her to hurt as much as he did. He took a deep breath to release his anger, his need to protect her stronger than even his pain. "I'm sorry. This isn't your fault. It just pisses me off to see you get hurt, and I think that is inevitable in this situation."

"I know that. That's why I've been fighting it for so long, but I don't know how anymore. It hurts to keep denying my feelings. It hurts." The tears slipped freely from golden brown eyes that pleaded with him to understand. He wasn't so cruel that he would hate her, she knew that. But maybe he would assume that it would be easier for her if they were apart. "It would hurt more, if I lost you as my friend because of my stupid heart. We are friends aren't we?"

He said nothing, unable to put into words how much he didn't want to be her friend. There was too much he wanted from her to accept just being friends. It seemed too cruel that she would never understand how broken he would be if he had to watch her mature into a woman and end up marrying another man. Ren sighed listening to her cry harder as the silence stretched on between them. If only he could tell her all the ways he loved her more than Fuwa ever could. Fuwa didn't strike him as a patient man, he was a selfish boy who took what he wanted.

"Selfish?" He muttered shaking his head. "That's what I'm being isn't it?" He asked himself forcing his eyes to take in the sight of the girl he loved crying because she thought he wouldn't be her friend anymore.

There had to be at least some small emotion in her heart for him, if she was that shaken over the thought of losing him. Slowly he placed his hands on her shaking shoulders and smoothed them down her back pulling her to his chest.

"You're breaking my heart here. Don't cry, wasn't this what the Love Me section was created for? To help you rediscover the feeling of wanting to be loved?" She nodded against his chest wanting the moment to last forever. The scent of him numbed her pain and his warm arms embracing her calmed her fears. "You shouldn't fight it then. Instead you should be using it to improve your acting."

"But you," she was about to say that he loved someone else and she didn't want to continue to fall in love with a man who would never want her. "I know how you feel about…" Her breathing began to speed up as his eyes widened. That distant day the president had spoken of, where Ren would get married and she'd have to smile as she wished him well, felt as if it were growing closer and closer. Like an impending doom looming over her heart, and Kyouko was certain she'd rather die than help Kanae plan the wedding. Breaking her heart even more she imagined having to turn down her best friend when she asked her to be part of the wedding. Fresh tears burned a path down her face and harsh sobs shook her body.

How? When did she find out? He opened his mouth to ask her but he couldn't conjure the words to his lips. What did it matter when she was in love with Fuwa?

"Don't worry about me." He said tightening his hold on her. Despite the pain she was causing him, he felt his love for her grow. She cared so much about him that she couldn't stop crying over the thought of hurting him. "I'll be right here for you whenever you need me. I wouldn't stop being your friend for something like this. Don't you know that you're my protective charm?"

His words made her think of Cain and Setsuka. Of course he wouldn't reject her, he would never do anything to hurt his little sister. That's all she would ever be to him, and though the thought cut her deeply, it also gave her some comfort. At least being thought of as a sister meant that he did think of her. Snaking her arms around his waist she hugged him tight praying that he wouldn't ever make her let go. A sister could hug her brother couldn't she, and if it were a sister like Setsu she would hold on as long as she could.

"You should get back to set now. Kotonami-san will think I kidnapped you. I think she's finally starting to not hate me." When he said that in a light joking tone, Kyouko had to fight her own reflexes not to flinch away. It felt like he was hammering home the message that he was rejecting her feelings in favor of her friend. It was strange how it hurt so much more than when Shou had said she was nothing more than a boring maid. Yet she couldn't summon the same rage or hatred for Ren as she had for Shou. She thought maybe that had to do with the gentle manner Ren had turned her down in, and part of her wished he would just cast her away. If only he would be kind enough to make her hate him. That would be less cruel then his soothing words and comforting embrace.

"Kanae? Yeah, I guess I should head to makeup and get my wig. I wouldn't want her to hate you." Lifting her head from his chest she stared up at him contemplating what it meant to be a little sister. A real little sister, like he seemed to want. If it were Setsu then she would kiss him, she thought. a blush crept into her cheeks as she admitted to herself that, that was what she wanted to do. Raising herself up on her toes she drew his attention down to her as he curiously watched her lean up. When her soft lips touched his cheek it startled him. "Thank you." She stated as if it were the most normal way to show him her appreciation.

With a small coy smile, she moved away not noticing that he had moved in closer, about to capture her lips in his. Kyouko waved goodbye to him as he walked to the driver's side of his car, her sadness cleverly hidden beneath the new character who was her but different. She had decided that she didn't have to lock her emotions up, all she really had to do was morph them into something more manageable. All she had to do was embrace the role of little sister in real life as she had embraced the role of Setsuka.

"If you need me, please don't hesitate to call." She nodded in agreement noting on a list in her mind that his ideal sister must call him all the time with inconsequential problems.

Ren sat in his car and watched her run into the building. On the tip of his tongue were desperate pleas for her to come back. He wanted to beg her to stay in his arms where she would be safe and he could show her what it felt like to be loved. Fuwa would never treat her the way she deserved, he had gotten away with too much, been forgiven too many times to even know how to treat her with respect. Ren couldn't even place all the blame on Fuwa. If Kyouko would stop running back to him then he might learn something and be able to treat the next girl better.

"If you hurt her again, I'll really have to become a murderer." He swore starting his car.


	7. Stay

**And why don't you love me, baby**

Kanae opened her mouth to speak then closed it thinking over the insanity of her best friend. She hesitated to point out the flaws in the girls skewed logic. On the one hand she knew this misunderstanding would only cause trouble and heartache for the two fools. On the other hand, she thought it could be amusing to watch. Still Kyouko was a good friend deserving of the truth.

"So," she began but her words died on her lips again as she stared into the wide innocent eyes asking her to agree. Closing her eyes so she wouldn't have to look at Kyouko she spoke again. "Just to be clear, you're saying that Tsuruga-san thinks of you as a sister and you're happy with that?" Kyouko nodded a little too enthusiastically. "Tsuruga-san? The guy who gave you a giant rose with an expensive looking gem in it? The same Tsuruga Ren who spent all of lunch staring at you in a way that had even Koga-san and I blushing and our waiter stumbling over his words? He thinks of _you_ as a sister?"

"He was not staring at me." Kyouko insisted. "And Princess Rosa was a gift from Queen Rosa, which was a very thoughtful birthday present." Kanae took note of the pink hue coloring Kyouko's cheek as she thought of her birthday. She was sure Kyouko didn't notice the way her body reacted at the thought of him. "I don't expect him to be giving me anymore presents any time soon." Kanae jumped as her friend fixed her with a look that sent chills down her spine. It was an angry glare that still managed to hold wistful sadness. "You might get something."

"Kyouko?" At a loss as to how to convince her otherwise Kanae decided to drop the argument. She didn't think that things could end too badly with this sort of misunderstanding. As long as Kyouko didn't get too lost in her role. Kanae shivered anticipating that Kyouko was probably going to get so caught up in the new role she had created for herself that she brought out the demon lord, that was what Kyouko called the angry alter ego of Tsuruga-san. Even Kanae had to admit that guy was scary, and she'd only met him once very briefly.

"Kyouko-chan, are you ready for the next scene?" Koga asked popping his head into the makeup room.

"Yes, master." Kanae cringed hoping Kyouko's new nii-san would never hear her call Koga master.

"I bet he'd kill the guy." Kanae shook her head and followed them out to watch the scene being filmed.

Hours later, after working them into exhaustion, the director finally called cut for the last time of the day. He smugly gathered his things together saying that his niece would have had made less mistakes. Kanae rolled her eyes and stretched out her sore limbs. It surprised her to see that Kyouko was cheerful as she bent over to retrieve one of her swords that had been knocked out of her hands for the last scene filmed.

"Is there good news I should know about?" She questioned in need of something good.

Kyouko shook her head no. "Not really. I'm just happy because I get to share a room with you again."

"Oh." Kanae was disappointed but she was glad to know that Kyouko wasn't mad at her. At least that was good news to her. "Should we do something girly then? Like face masks or something?" That was all it took for her to earn a bright smile and a hug from her friend. She dodged the hug however stating that they were still in public and that sort of hyper behavior was unbecoming of an actress.

"Moko-san!" Kyouko whined recovering from her hug dive to the floor.

Kuresaki walked over to them ending a phone call. "I should thank you, I suppose." He said in his monotone voice. "Maybe I'll ask the writers for a riskier scene between the two of you. That should be helpful. Not that you'd notice."

"Producer?" Kuresaki scared Kyouko to her core by allowing his face to be contorted with a genuine smile for a split second. "Did I do something wrong?" She asked going over her scenes in her head to find a mistake that the director hadn't.

"No, you did something very right. What it was I'm not quite sure, but it works in my favor so I don't much care." He returned to his bored expression and emotionless voice. "I came over to inform you two that we won't have to put out a new casting call for the main villain. Yamashita Ryuunosuke will be here starting next week. His actor has limited time and could only fit us in for late night shootings I'm afraid. But we'll make it work, I'm sure. It was really lucky that both he and his manager were eager to negotiate a schedule with me, and I have you to thank for that. If it wasn't for you, I'm sure he wouldn't be willing to rearrange his various jobs just to appear in my little drama." Kuresaki was intrigued by Ren's attraction to the girl. Sure she was pretty, but so were a lot of other actresses. He made a mental note to find ways to tease and torment the actor, and perhaps find a way to gain publicity.

"He?" Kanae asked connecting the dots before Kyouko did. "You mean that stupid and obvious actor who is too popular and too handsome, and too stupid for this one here to accept her own feelings. I don't wanna have to see those types of lovey couple scenes every day." She whined remembering the way they ate lunch.

"Who?" Kyouko asked, she didn't think there were any love scenes in the script. Chidori and Shizuma were supposed to fall in love, but it wasn't an extremely romantic drama. It focused more on the fight scenes with the love rivalry between Chidori and Momiji being the sub story for added tension. "If I recall the only kissing scenes are when Momiji kisses Shizuma but he rejects her. Then I think Shizuma and Chidori kiss once before he goes off to a battle. Nothing too bad." She was mumbling to herself going over the scenes she had read through.

"I don't think that's what Kotonami-san was referring to." Kuresaki said well aware that Kyouko was too absorbed in her contemplations to listen. Testing a theory, he moved a little closer to the girl and whispered, "Tsuruga Ren." As he thought she would Kyouko perked up and looked around frantically.

"Where?" There was a smile on her face and her cheeks had the unmistakable pink glow of a girl with a crush.

"No you idiot, Tsuruga Ren is going to be portraying Ryuunosuke. He appears in the third episode, but he doesn't reveal himself to be an enemy until episode ten. You don't have that script yet." He turned to Kanae to ease some of her worry. "It wouldn't be every day. he can only be here on Tuesday and Wednesday nights, and Thursday morning until nine or ten. Then the only other time he has is Saturday night which you won't have to worry about since you have another obligation on Sundays and leave us Saturday afternoon." Done speaking to them he turned away without uttering any words of goodbye.

Kyouko bowed politely to his retreating form before turning to Kanae. "Nii-san will be joining us! Isn't that fantastic?" Kanae wanted to tease her for referring to him like that, but the way she said it gave her shivers. Not like a sister, more like a lover. Kanae grew red wondering just what kind of sister Kyouko was pretending to be.

Yashiro hummed happily as he scribbled in his planner. Various dates and times had to be moved around and meetings were shortened but he was proud to have been able to schedule so much time for Ren to see Kyouko.

"You better be grateful Ren. I'm doing this all for you and Kyouko-chan of course. She deserves to be loved. Especially after what her mother put her through. What kind of rotten no good mother appears on television and says things like that?" He grouched erasing a photo shoot and moving it to a Friday. "Of course this will mean you have to work harder, but I'm sure you won't mind."

A sigh came from his cell phone sitting beside his planner. "I won't complain, but what will you do when this backfires? When the drama is over and I am once again no closer to getting the girl, will you be able to pick up the pieces she breaks me into?" Ren asked solemnly.

"I told you before that all you have to do is use your playboy charm. It'll be okay if you seduce her, because you really love her. I think everyone who cares about her will sleep easier once she is officially yours. Then her heart will forever be protected from other shadier playboys." The way Yashiro put it made Ren question his manager's morals. Telling him to seduce an innocent young girl like Kyouko, as if he needed any more perverted thoughts in his head.

"Yukihito, sometimes I think you're just as bad as the president." Ren accused. "Excuse me." He said hearing his phone make a curious beeping sound. The screen lit up with an incoming call from Kyouko. "I have a call coming in."

"Kyouko-chan!" Yashiro rejoiced dropping his pen in his excitement.

"I'll leave the schedule to you." Ren hung up the phone leaving Yashiro to squirm in his seat thinking up all the reasons she could be calling this late. "A love confession at this hour?" He picked up his phone with his gloved hand and scrolled through his contacts. "I have to report this to the president."

Taking a deep breath Ren prepared himself for the emotional nightmare that was bound to come from speaking with Kyouko again. Hadn't she tortured him enough for one day? Still the sound of her voice was always a welcome torment.

Pressing the talk button, he released his breath and turned on the charm to disguise his aching heart. "Good Evening Mogami-san. To what do I owe the pleasure of hearing your voice before bed."

"Hi!" Came her cheerful greeting before she began to question him. "Why didn't you tell me you're going to be Ryuunosuke? You aren't taking on too much work are you. Your schedule is usually packed so how could you add this drama on such short notice? Is this just a way for you to keep an eye on me, because I'm not a child? You don't have to be so overprotective. Did you eat supper?" Her inquiries came at him so quickly he wasn't sure if he comprehended all of them.

"Please repeat that Mogami-san." He requested but before she could begin her tirade again he added. "One at a time. The most important one first."

There was a pause before Kyouko asked in an authoritative tone, "Did you eat supper?"

Ren flinched, thinking about the rice ball he had yet to consume. It wasn't as if he had planned on not eating but Kuresaki had called and he wasn't really hungry. He only bought the rice ball because he knew that Kyouko wouldn't like it if he didn't at least eat something. Kyouko growled into the phone when he failed to reply.

"Ren." She drew his name out holding onto the 'n' in annoyance. "How many times do I have to tell you that eating three well balanced meals a day is important? It's a good thing you'll be working with me again. Someone has to make sure you take care of yourself."

Ren chuckled unable to keep the smile off of his face. "I'm sorry, I promise to eat before going to bed, and I'll do better tomorrow. What were your other questions?"

Kyouko shrugged forgetting that he couldn't see her. "Nothing important, I just wanted to say that I'm happy we'll be working together. Yashiro-san must be working very hard to adjust your schedule to accommodate an added drama. You really shouldn't torture him like that, he's a good manager."

"Is he?" With a wicked smile on his face Ren added. "All he ever does is pick on me. He uses secrets I've let slip accidentally, against me. You can have him back for a while and then I'll get to watch him tease you."

Kyouko shook her head vehemently not wanting Yashiro to know her secrets. "No that's alright, Sawara-san said that he put in a request for a manager for me."

"That's good." He said heart pounded with the need to say more. There were so many words that his tongue formed but all that ended up leaving his mouth was, "You should go to bed, Mogami-san."

"Yes." Her voice was still filled with an odd cheerfulness that confused him. Where was the normal shy politeness that was deeply rooted in her personality? "You too, Ren, eat something then get some rest."

His heart jumped wanting to believe she was treating him differently. Shaking his head he inwardly scolded his foolish heart. They had gone over this earlier, she loved Shou and his feelings were irrelevant. He still wondered how long she had known about his feelings.

"Goodnight." She yawned into the phone and he smiled longing to see her.

"Goodnight." Hanging up the phone he tossed it onto his coffee table with a tired sigh. He leaned back on his couch and stared at the ceiling. "Kyouko."

 **A/N Thanks for reading.**


	8. Breaking Your Own Heart

**Open up your heart tonight  
'cause I could be all that you need**

Kanae watched Kyouko sparring with Ren on stage. It had been a few weeks now since Kyouko started building her little sister character and Kanae found it more than a little disturbing that Ren seemed to be playing along. She had watched him transform right before her eyes in a matter of seconds, into a doting yet possessive older brother. Or at least Kyouko had insisted that he was being her big brother. It concerned Kanae that the list she had found of character traits contained such inappropriate and bizarre behavior that was a contradiction to what a normal little sister would act like. She knew Kyouko had no experience with siblings but she was appalled to find that Kyouko thought that a sister would insist on sleeping in the same bed as her brother, or that she should blush when thinking of her brother, or whisper about how cute her brother was.

"Oh Kyouko, grow a brain. That isn't a sister you created, it's a girlfriend." Kanae watched the intense scene being played out on the stage. She wondered why Momiji was going at Ryuunosuke the way she was; in this scene they were meant to be friends still with Momiji having no inclination of Ryuunosuke's feelings or evil intentions. But the way Kyouko was acting it out made Kanae feel vaguely worried for Ren's safety. "Sure the guy is annoyingly obvious and clingy and monopolizing of Kyouko's time and I'm pretty sure he has somehow perverted Kyouko's view of siblings," Kanae shook her head trying to remember her original point. "Don't kill your sempai Kyouko. I won't listen to you cry over him."

She jumped out of her chair when there was a loud clanking sound followed by two laborious grunts. Ren who had previously been only using defensive strikes was fighting back in earnest and Kyouko struggled to block his blows. Kanae watched in horror as the two seemed to be trying to cause each other bodily harm for real, but the director wasn't calling cut. Contrary to Kanae, Morizumi and Kuresaki seemed to be delighted by the display of brute force from Ren, who had not wanted to perform the scene with Kyouko at all. Had he had his way there would be a stunt double in her place. Kanae wasn't sure if he would have stubbornly fought with any other actress about her safety, of course she had to concede that he probably wouldn't have given in to any other actress so easily either.

Concerned for her friend Kanae approached Kuresaki. "I don't understand, why are they fighting so fiercely? This is meant to be a friendly match isn't it?"

"Yes, a friendly practice between two very prideful and skilled fighters. Both of them are too stubborn to admit that they are tired and neither one of them will accept a loss." Kuresaki explained, "It is interesting to note however that Ryuunosuke does have feelings for Momiji, and will not want to cause her too much pain. I think Tsuruga-san was the perfect choice for this role over Shizuma. It would not do to have a Shizuma who looks at Momiji with that intense gaze."

Kyouko was growing agitated at the man. He was determined to prove to her that she should not be performing her own fight scenes. Out of breath and growing tired all she could do was fall back continuously blocking his harsh blows. Her wrists were aching from the force of his swings and her legs threatened to buckle beneath her but she was determined to prove to him that she could beat him if she wanted to. Momiji would never allow Ryuunosuke to win.

"Honestly, you two." She heard her master give an exasperated sigh as he watched them fight. "I hope you won't be too disappointed when you lose, Ryuu-chan. Momiji may look small," taking the hint Momiji crouched down to make herself even smaller and swiped at Ryuunosuke's legs. "She is deadly though." If she could not defeat her opponent with strength she would use the advantage of her smaller stature.

"She's gonna kill him." Kanae mumbled dryly watching Kyouko aggressively trip Ren to the floor.

"Cut!" Director Morizumi ended the scene with Momiji straddling Ryuunosuke's chest, having been pulled to the floor with him, and holding both her blades to his throat.

Fatigued Kyouko slumped over letting her head fall to Ren's shoulder. Rubbing soothing circles on her back Ren hugged her close momentarily forgetting himself. He nuzzled her neck with his nose loving the way it felt to hold her. Wide eyed Kanae looked around at the cast and crew members, wondering if Kyouko was aware of the position she was in. If this was how they were going to behave on set, then the rumors would be out of control in a matter of days. She was about to protest when Koga walked over to them and remarked on what a lovely and affectionate couple they were.

"Ow!" Koga yelped reeling away from a now standing Kyouko, clutching his nose. "That was a joke, Kyouko-chan you don't have to be violent." He whined checking his nose for blood.

"It wasn't funny." Kyouko said gracefully sheathing her swords.

"Being mad only proves to me," Koga whispered low enough so that Ren couldn't hear, "that you are excited to film a kissing scene with your sempai later. You should just admit it already. I could make you a sign that reads, 'notice me sempai,' though I doubt you need it." Koga teased. "Go on, go give him a kiss. Maybe that will improve your mood."

Gasping Kyouko gave him a look meant to convey disgust, but she could not keep her emotions from coloring her cheeks and giving her away. "Why does everyone keep saying things like that? I'm not even in a bad mood."

"You tried to break my nose." Koga countered pointing at his wounded face.

"You'll live." There was a coldness in her voice that surprised Koga. Her attitude lately had been reminding him more and more of Natsu, but not quite as cruel. Or rather there was a playfulness to her cruelty that made her all the more endearing. He chuckled looking behind her at the man who was still stuck on the floor.

"Will he?" Kyouko looked down at Ren expecting him to get up at any moment, but finding that he was making no move to do so. With his eyes closed and his muscles tensed he seemed to be having an argument with himself in his head.

"Ren?" Hearing her say his name Ren had to fight the smile that was trying to take over his face. He had heard it earlier as she was arguing with him about being capable of holding her own against him. In truth he did not doubt her skills, what he was unsure of was his ability to put up a fight against her. It took everything he had to not forfeit the fight, because she was the last person he would ever want to hurt.

"Ren?" There it was again, his name on her lips. Her hands brushed back his hair and he knew that if he opened his eyes he would have no choice but to look at her sweetly concerned face. He refused to open his eyes. The sight of her looking down at him would only cause him pain. That sisterly affection in her eyes was not something he wanted to see, he'd rather see hatred than that mock version of Setsuka staring down at him. "Nii-san." Sitting up abruptly he looked away from her to Koga who showed him a sympathetic smile.

"It's lunch time, you two should eat. We'll be filming another fight scene between you two later. Kyouko-chan are you looking forward to it?" Kyouko said nothing, she was too busy peering up at Ren trying to gain his attention.

Without a word Ren lifted himself off the floor and glided over to Kanae away from the girl who he found himself wanting to be around less and less. The thought of her calling him by name had once been something he longed for, but he couldn't even pinpoint the exact moment she had started doing it. And he couldn't bring himself to be happy about it, not when he was being thought of as a brother.

"You are angry with me?" Kyouko asked walking over him in a contrite manner. He was torn between not wanting her to be sad and not being able to stand her sisterly affection any longer.

"No. Have you done something that I should be angry at you for?" He played innocent as he accepted a boxed lunch from Yashiro. "Thank you."

"No? You have the look you get when you are about to scold me, though. Are you still mad that I insisted on doing my own stunts for this drama? Forgive me but, no matter how valid your argument that you are bigger than me and have more experience may be, I will perform my own stunts. After all you taught me that is what the best actors do." Yashiro handed her a lunch box as well as she took her seat next to Kanae with Ren on the other side of her.

"I have no intention of scolding you." Ren stated coolly, picking at the vegetables in his lunch. If she were feeding them to him he'd eat them, not even that would make him happy though.

"You two are hopeless." Kanae commented after finishing the lunch Yashiro had brought her before their companions had walked over to them.

"Yes I know I am." Ren replied glancing over Kyouko's head at Kanae, grateful that he had someone to talk to besides Kyouko. He shuddered to think of the topics his mind wandered to when alone with Kyouko, despite knowing that she was not his to think of in such a way.

Both of them missed the worried glance Kyouko gave them. Every time he spoke to Kanae she could feel the knife in her heart twisting. She had never envied her friend for her natural beauty, in fact she had rejoiced to have such a pretty girl as her best friend. Listening to them speak of the upcoming scenes, however, made her wish that Kanae had some horrible flaw in her features. It didn't seem fair for her friend to be a good actress, graceful, smart, and beautiful, when she was so plain. Yashiro had not missed the look, and he added it to the list of reasons he suspected Kyouko's feelings for Ren had grown. It was heart breaking how sad she looked whenever Ren's attention was on someone other than her, mainly Kanae.

"Kanae?" Despite her resolve to not interfere with their budding relationship, the need to come between them kept bubbling up inside of her. Bitter jealousy brought harsh words to her tongue aimed at her best friend. She swallowed her anger and amended her words before speaking. "I think I need a rest. Will you come and get me from our dressing room when filming starts up again?"

"Yes. Are you alright though?" Kyouko nodded beaming her best smile at Kanae.

Kanae waited for her to be out of sight before turning on Ren. "What the hell?"

Ren looked up from playing with his food. "What?"

"What! He says what, as if he doesn't know he's done something wrong." Yashiro chimed in all too happy to castigate his charge. "Poor Kyouko-chan was so wounded by your abuse."

"When did I abuse her? I can assure you she was not harmed during filming. She must be tired, that's all. To tell the truth I would like to go take a nap as well."

"Bullshit!" Kanae yelled causing a few startled stagehands to drop their equipment. "You have that sulky, 'Kyouko will never love me the way I want so I'm gonna bully her,' attitude right now. Playing big brother getting too tiresome for you? You have to be a baby and make her feel bad to make yourself feel what? More miserable?"

"Kotonami-san," Ren began to deny that he was sulking. He was going to scold her for reprimanding an elder. Tell her to calm down and think of their surroundings, because she might get a rotten reputation for being insolent. "It is good that Mogami-san has you as a friend." He said instead rising from his chair. "I am tired. Too tired I fear to pretend that I am just as good a friend as you are."

"What does that mean?" Kanae asked bewildered by his admittance. She thought the problem was that he wanted to be her friend too much. He was supposed to want to be good to her wasn't he?

Koga laughed at her puzzled expression. "Are you really so innocent? Ren is sulking because he can't have what he wants. Not only can he not have her, she has granted him permission to get as close as he wants with the knowledge that anything he does will be strictly viewed in a platonic way." He explained patting an irritated Ren on the back. "Poor guy just wants to get laid and he's frustrated by her proximity."

"I warned him about being too much of a gentleman. I did. Now he will forever be stuck playing house with no hope for kids." Yashiro teased. "I wanted to meet those children, Ren, you brooding fool."

"Neither of you has a brain." Ren said before turning to Kanae. "Please don't worry about my issues too much. I'll go apologize to Mogami-san. As you have already guessed it pains me to see her unhappy."

"You better not touch her." warned Kanae watching him as he walked away in the same direction Kyouko had gone.

He had said the words without intending to follow through, but before he knew it he was standing in front of the dressing room she was in. His forehead leaned against the wood as he contemplated all the possible outcomes of going in. Not one of his imagined conclusions involved her being his. He sighed pitying himself for being unable to hope yet still clinging to her. Learning from past experiences he shook his head and walked away to hide in his own dressing room.

"Coward." Kanae whispered spying on him from around the corner. "I'll never let you have her if you can't prove to me that you're a man who will take care of her and fight for her."

"How can he fight for someone who continuously makes it clear she doesn't want his attention?" Yashiro inquired causing Kanae to stiffen as she was startled by his presence. "Sorry I thought you heard me following behind you." He grinned apologetically.

Crossing her arms Kanae countered his question with one of her own. "How is she supposed to know that she has his attention when he sulks like a brat and ignores her every time she doesn't give him what he wants. And if he thinks he's getting her into bed with him, he is sorely mistaken. Kyouko is a simple and innocent girl. She's not gonna go for that sort of thing. He'd have to marry her first, and then I'll feel sorry for the bastard who still probably won't get anything from her." Kanae thought for a moment trying to imagine Kyouko doing anything besides holding hands. "I don't think she has a carnal bone in her body."

Flushing a bright red Yashiro said, "That's because to you she isn't a sexual being. She isn't in my eyes either, but Ren is in love with her. You've figured out that much right? When someone is in love isn't it natural to want to touch them?" At Kanae's glare he added. "Of course, he'd never do anything without her permission."

"Good." Kanae relented turning on her heel to head back to set. "I have a couple of scenes to film before we begin filming the big fight scene with Ryuunosuke and Momiji."

 **A/N Sorry it took so long to update. Thanks for reading.**


	9. Thumping

**Why don't you love me?  
Why don't you love me?**

You know what Kuon, Ren thought staring himself down in the mirror. Maybe it's time to do things your way. You want her, then why not take her? He shook his head and reprimanded himself for his wicked thoughts.

"I know; she isn't a toy for us to steal from _that guy_." Koga's words struck him as he contemplated his irrational anger. "Why should I be the one responsible for keeping boundaries between us?" Frustrated he threw open the door of his dressing room, intending to go find the girl and make her end the cruelty. If she knew he liked her then why was she insisting on being his sister. She didn't seem to care much about his feelings anymore and that made him want to teach her a lesson.

About to storm out of the room he almost bumped into the person standing outside his door about to knock.

Kyouko released a long sigh as she ran through the script for the next scene. There was another fight scene which she was sure Ren would protest to her acting in. A much more intense scene where he would have to cause her at least some discomfort for it to work. Then there was the conclusion of the scene. Kyouko blushed rereading the lines.

Ryuunosuke baring down on Momiji's blades: He'll never love you.

Momiji's loses her grip momentarily: gasp.

Momiji's swords are thrown out of her hands. Ryuunosuke laughing wickedly grips Momiji's around the neck and lifts her in the air.

Ryuunosuke: I could kill you now, and he'd be grateful if he arrived in time to save her. He wouldn't give you a second thought until he knows she's safe.

Chidori lay unconscious on the floor to the right.

Loosening his grip Ryuunosuke pulls Momiji into his arms: I would worship you. If only you'd be mine.

Ryuunosuke leans in slowly, Kyouko squeaked throwing the script across the room.

"Why did that idiot have to agree to do this? I can't pretend to be his sister if he does _that!_ " she fretted over her ability to stay in character both as Momiji and as Ren's little sister. "This is too hard. I don't wanna be your sister." Wiping at a couple drops of tears that managed to slip out she stood up to retrieve her script. "If Kanae were playing Momiji, he probably wouldn't doubt her abilities so much. I bet the kiss scene would be something he looked forward to."

"Kotonami-san?" Ren looked over Kanae's head hoping to find Yashiro or Koga. He hated to admit it but Kyouko's best friend scared him.

"I came to tell you that director Morizumi is ready to start filming your scenes again. You can go get Kyouko." Kanae said curtly.

"O…ok." Somehow he couldn't imagine how the two could get long, though it was evident that Kanae cared about Kyouko. "I suppose opposites attract." Ren shrugged watching Kanae stalk back over to where he saw Yashiro was waiting.

"Were you speaking with Kanae just now?" Kyouko's small voice asked walking out of her dressing room.

His lips turned up at the sound of her voice and he mentally scolded himself for being such a fool in love.

"Yes." He answered honestly turning to face her. Kyouko averted her eyes from the sight of his happy face. That look was her look, the softness in his eyes and the warm smile were pieces of him that she had convinced herself belonged to her alone. To see him smiling at Kanae like that was like pouring salt in a throbbing wound. "Kyouko?" His voice was tender as he reached a hand out to push back the bangs of her wig.

Kyouko pulled away as though his hand burned. "I'm sorry for earlier." She said bowing her head slightly. "I know you tend to worry about me as a brother would, but I hope that you can trust me to know my own limits. I promise if something hurts I'll tell you."

"As a brother," Ren mumbled finally realizing she wasn't just forcing him into the role of her brother, she had mistaken his feelings for her again. "We should get going before Morizumi throws another fit."

Kyouko nodded and began to walk passed him. Shrugging his shoulders Ren came up behind her and pulled her to him. He kissed her along the cheek to her ear where his warm breath whispered an apology as his hand came up to cradle her head. Kyouko sucked in a harsh breath fighting the blush that wanted to creep up her neck.

"I was too harsh earlier. Of course I trust your judgement as an actor to know your own limits."

They walked back to set in silence. Ren had entwined their fingers together having decided that, since she was the only one who had cared about boundaries before, she would have to set them. That meant he was free to do as he pleased until she told him not to. A wolf in sheep's clothing, he thought about himself watching Kyouko through a worried glance at Kanae.

They took their places on the stage and crew members rushed over to adjust their costumes and makeup. Kyouko took deep calming breath calling Momiji's spirit to herself.

"Cut!" After the fifth take Kyouko fell to the floor exhausted.

She cursed herself for being unable to complete the scene. She remembered how she had closed her eyes as Ren pulled her face up to meet his. Then she had stiffened when his lips touched hers, she was determined to not feel anything. But Kanae walking away from him and him whispering about opposites attracting kept playing in her mind. No longer was she concerned with her feelings for him, she was too confused by her mixed up feelings about her best friend. They were acting so it made no sense for her to feel as if she were stealing from Kanae, but she did. It shamed her to admit that a large jealous part of her hoped Kanae would see the kiss and feel pain. Kyouko had frozen in his arms hating herself all the more for enjoying the feeling of his lips on hers.

"All you have to do is let him kiss you then lean into him a little! It's barely even a kiss. It's so simple and easy any newbie could do it. Hell I could go out and ask five random people and they would do it just for the chance to kiss Tsuruga Ren!" Morizumi was screaming at Kyouko. When he held up filming by demanding more takes it was no problem, but if anyone actually made a mistake they were the worst.

"It wasn't just the kiss though, and it was my fault we had to do it over the first two times." Ren said kneeling down to Kyouko. "It bothers me handling you so roughly." His hand reached out to touch her neck gently but she recoiled from it. Breathing in deeply he turned to the director. "Maybe we should take a quick break."

"A break?" Morizumi sneered at Kyouko. "She can have the rest of the night off. Get her out of my sight." He mumbled the last sentence under his breath, though Ren had heard it clearly.

Sick of the director's sour attitude Ren opened his mouth to speak but Kuresaki shook his head at him. "Come on." Ren seized Kyouko by the arm before she could avoid his touch and he made a hasty retreat to his dressing room. He heard Morizumi shout for Kanae and Koga to get into their places for a scene they were meant to shoot in the morning.

Kanae sighed watching Kyouko being dragged away by her beloved Nii-san dejectedly. She rolled her eyes seeing Koga give Ren a thumbs up, probably thinking that he would finally get somewhere, like the rest of the crew who barely knew Ren and Kyouko must have been thinking. Thinking to herself, Kanae predicted that they would go into Kyouko's or Ren's dressing room to hide from the stares. Then, exasperated she concluded, Kyouko would throw herself at his feet begging to be punished and apologizing for being a worthless actress. After that Ren would say something soothing and slightly flirtatious that was bound to go over Kyouko's head, and then he'd give her a pep talk. Kanae couldn't imagine what he could possibly say that would fix the problem, but she was sure that he could handle it. If only he would just kiss her, then Kanae wouldn't have to be forced to watch anymore bizarrely lovey sibling scenes. They were worse than the lovey couple scenes, she gagged just thinking about them.

"Who sits in their brother's lap." She grumbled forgetting her surroundings.

Yashiro looked at her oddly after dispelling similar thoughts of a mundane apology followed by a pep talk. "The secret kind of siblings who are dangerous." He answered cryptically but Kanae understood the hidden message that it was something to do with the dangerous mission from the president. She smiled at him and nodded, before standing from her chair and heading to the stage where crew members waited to touch up her face and fiddle with her costume. If she had it her way she would have followed them to make sure that the playboy co-star killer kept his hands to himself.

Once inside his dressing room with the door closed Kyouko fell to the floor and began to beg him for forgiveness, ranting about what a horrible actress she was. Used to her self-deprecations he ignored her words and stepped around her headed for the couch. Kyouko adjusted her position to face him, but stayed on the floor waiting to be reprimanded.

"Morizumi should be the one prostrating himself before the both of us. Get up." His tone was harsh but she could tell that it was not because of her.

"But you have so little time that you can devote to filming with us, and I keep making the same mistake." She wished that she could have more time to prepare for the scene, but Ren was a busy actor. He had to film a lot of his scenes as quickly as possible. Recalling the scene Kyouko lowered her head to the carpeted floor.

Ryuunosuke had thrown her swords out of her hands and despite the pain of the force he'd used she was fine continuing the scene. His wicked laugh made her shiver as she watched him reach for her neck, Momiji feared for her own life for the first time since she could remember. Then the problem began when Ryuunosuke pulled her into his arms. Kyouko felt Momiji slipping from her grasp as she glanced over at Kanae. Momiji was supposed to look at Chidori with a hint of jealousy and concern and she did just that except she wasn't Momiji. Then he tilted her head up to him and whispered, "I would worship you. If only you'd be mine." Ren leaned in to steal a chaste kiss.

"No!" Hands pushed his face away too quickly and she fell to the ground with the director's exasperated 'Cut!' echoing within the studio.

"I'm sorry."

"Stop saying that already." Ren snapped bringing Kyouko's mind back to the dressing room. As Kyouko opened her mouth to apologize for saying sorry too many times, Ren raised his hand to shush her. "I don't want to hear it."

"But," Kyouko wanted to say that it was her fault they couldn't complete the scene.

"No. No more saying you're sorry." He held out his hand beckoning her to him. "Come here."

If he were mad she would be able to sincerely apologize and then he might smile at her again. It was with a heavy heart that she acknowledged her inability to think of a way to mend his current mood. How could she fix the problem when he was being difficult and unreadable. Raising her head more she examined his lazy posture and forlorn expression. If she were to name the emotions he was portraying, she would name them heart break and longing. But there was no sense in feeling that way about a failed scene.

"Get off the floor already." Kyouko coward at the sound of his irate voice. Her reaction did little to ease his frustration. Closing his eyes, he took a moment to collect his Ren persona and spoke in a much more soothing manner. "What more do I have to do for you to trust me?"

"I do trust you." Her admittance was hasty and Ren wasn't sure if that meant it was the truth or that she was lying out of fear.

"Then why are you so scared? Why do you always make me the bad guy?" She did her best not to cower away from him in fear. She didn't mean to be afraid but his tone of voice and hard gaze made her shiver. "I try to abide by your relationship rules. I've been understanding and patient and have not complained about your cruelty. And all you do is continue to vex me."

Timid and unsure of what he meant Kyouko stood and took small steps over to him but stopped just out of his reach.

"Come here." She resisted with a shake of her head. "You sit in my lap all the time. There's no reason to be shy about it now."

"You're planning to do something weird. I can tell by the coaxing tone of your voice." Kyouko said avoiding the hands that reached for her.

"So you really don't trust me?" Ren pouted. "There's nothing weird about two actors practicing. It is even less strange for me to teach you something you're having trouble with."

"Teach me?" Kyouko asked feeling the familiar excitement she always got when he agreed to show her his acting secrets. Intrigued she moved closer and allowed herself to be pulled down to his lap.

He cupped her cheek and brought her face closer to his. "It would only be practice. Like when I taught you the walk, strictly to improve your acting." He pressed his lips to hers gently. It would be a lie to say that Kyouko did not enjoy the soft touch, and that was what she was afraid of.

"No," she shoved her hand between their connected mouths and pushed him back.

"No? What no? You don't want to improve your acting? If you can't get over this, we'll never finish the scene and Kuresaki seems determined to keep this scene no matter what." Fed up with having to swallow the bitter taste that her sister act was leaving in his mouth, Ren gripped both of her hands. Even if he had to admit that he would enjoy their 'practice' more than a brother should, it was really for her own good to learn how to kiss without freaking out. "I know you have no experience with this, but you're not a damned child Kyouko. No one remains pure forever, especially not in this industry. You have to kiss me."

"I can't." Kyouko admitted hoping he would never find out how impure she already was. If he only knew where her thoughts wandered sometimes, he would never accuse her of being innocent or inexperienced again.

"You can't? So what are you going to turn down future roles because they may contain romance?" He was disappointed. He'd thought she had more pride as an actress than that.

"No!" She snapped. "I'm an actress, I have no problem with kissing people. If it's required in a script than I am confident I can let anyone kiss me. Boy or girl, even if I don't like them." Instantly regretting her words, she shut her mouth and averted her eyes from him.

"Anyone except for me?" Her words pissed him off. They sounded familiar, like something he might have said to her once, but he hated them all the same. How could she just let anyone kiss her? She wouldn't let him kiss her and here she was declaring that she was ready to be kissed by whoever else a script required her to. It wasn't as if it would mean anything to her, and she had to have had more practice by now. Fuwa wasn't the patient type. His arm tightened around her waist and his hand gripped her hip, he found himself wondering how far a guy like that would want her to go. What could she see in _that guy_? As far as Ren could tell he'd never even attempted to treat her right and he never would.

"Why can only I not kiss you? Why can Fuwa have a place in your heart, but you won't even consider me?" The words fell out unbidden by him. He meant to ask, how she could be so confident when she had so little experience. He meant to scold her for her cockiness, to tease her, to lighten the mood. He meant to say anything other than what he had said, but his voice came out with the words he had only managed to mumble in his dreams.

"What?" Dumbfounded, Kyouko turned red. "Tsuruga-san?"

"Tsuruga-san? When did we go back to the formality, Kyouko?" Ren grabbed her chin forcing her to look at him. "It's been Ren for weeks now, hasn't it? I confess that I didn't notice at first."

"No it hasn't Tsuruga-san, and this position is highly inappropriate." Tears sprang to her eyes as she feared that he was finally going to mock her for being in love with him. "Please let me go."

"I can't." Ren spoke truthfully. "I've tried but I can't. I think I've reached my limit. He's never gonna love you like you deserve." Tilting her face up while leaning in, he kissed their noses together.

"Tsuruga-san?" Fear and anticipation with a little bit of hope confused her heart and she cried, "Ren please," she couldn't take his teasing. Even if he meant it as a training exercise it was too heartless of him. Seeing the tears, he had caused Ren released her and Kyouko fell backwards on the couch. Her legs remained in his lap with her head landing on a pillow. She stared at the ceiling letting the silent anguish flow from her eyes.

"…" Ren chanced a glance in her direction meaning to lament his actions, but his words were trapped in his throat.

"I'm in love with Shizuma." Kyouko finally broke the silence. For a split second Ren's brain replaced Shizuma with Shoutaro.

"I know," he said unconsciously rubbing one of her calves alleviating some of the tension that had gathered in her muscles.

"So why would I let you kiss me?" The words stung but he felt that he deserved the stab. "I mean it doesn't make sense." She continued cutting him deeper. "If Momiji loves Shizuma why does she give in so easily to Ryuunosuke?"

"What?" Ren looked at her curiously halting his hands on her leg.

"It doesn't, does it?" She was desperate to get him to buy her excuse. She couldn't say that the thought of kissing him sent shivers down her spine. Could never let him know that there was a sensation radiating from his skin into hers that made her feel warm and safe, yet uncomfortably vulnerable. He couldn't know that she wasn't as innocent as he thought she was. "Momiji not only lets him kiss her, she kisses him back for a second before using his distraction to escape his clutches."

"Kyouko?" Ren struggled to catch up to the conversation, realizing that they were not speaking of her relationship with Fuwa. "Ryuunosuke is much larger than Momiji and they have had the same training, but he has been training for longer than she has. It shouldn't be surprising that she would have to use whatever tactics available to her to break free of his grip on her."

Kyouko adjusted her legs so that the other one was in his hands. Taking the hint, he began to massage that leg as he had the other. They stared at each other contemplating his reasoning.

"I don't think Momiji would use her sexuality to win a fight. In fact, I'm pretty sure Momiji doesn't have a clue how to seduce a man to use it against him in a fight." Kyouko was caught in her own lie, having become truly curious about the scene. Ren's heart caught in his throat hearing Kyouko say 'sexuality' in such an alluring way.

"Trust me, you don't have to know how to be seductive, to seduce someone. Sometimes your personality can just connect with someone else's and entice them without you meaning to." She nodded her agreement sitting up and leaning against his shoulder. Her body was acting on its own accord and she was lost in the sensation of his hands kneading her flesh. "Want another theory?" Ren asked unable to control the rapid beating of his heart as his hands traveled higher up her clothed legs.

"What?" Kyouko asked lifting her head to look up into his eyes.

"Maybe, you know he'll never love you the way you deserve." He leaned his head closer feeling as though her eyes were pulling him in. "You want to know what it feels like, to be touched by someone who loves you. Just once."

"Maybe I do." Kyouko whispered touching his face. "In spite of how evil he is, and how cruel he treats everyone else, Momiji knows that Ryuunosuke doesn't want to hurt her. He would treat her well, wouldn't he?"

Ren pulled her to him and stole a chaste kiss. "She would be his queen." He declared against her lips. "I'd worship you." Kyouko could feel the quivering vulnerability rising in her chest as Ren teased her lips with tiny kisses. "Do you want me to teach you what it's like?" He asked between kisses.

"Yes." Kyouko's response shocked them both but she amended it adding. "I think that must be what Momiji is feeling in the scene. She wants to feel loved just once, but she loves Shizuma and," Kyouko stopped talking, distracted by the hand that had settled between her thighs still massaging in a manner meant to calm her, but it was driving her crazy instead. There was something coiling up inside of her stomach making her squirm in his lap.

"And?" Their noses rubbed together. Neither of them could figure out if they were trying to seduce the other on purpose or if they had lost control of their own bodies. He kissed her again entranced by her breath mingling with his.

"Momiji loves Shizuma." Her hands clutched at the fabric around his neck as she gave in to his slow easy kisses.

"He doesn't love her." Ren breathed pulling at her bottom lip hungrily.

"It isn't right." Kyouko protested with her words, but her mouth mimicked his wanton actions.

"Only if she doesn't want it." Unconsciously she spread her legs as his hand slid further up and their kisses lingered longer and the passion grew between them faster than either of them felt they could handle.

Cupping her sex, Ren thought he might burst into flames. He couldn't recall ever feeling so desperate for anything in his life. It seemed the more he had of her the more he wanted. Kyouko was fully clothed in her Momiji costume but she felt completely bare when he had his hands on her. His hand was not moving though Kyouko wanted it to. It was just holding her and she wanted him to do more. The thought that he was going too far crossed his mind and he began bring the kiss to safer territory, slowing it down and removing his hand. It was Kyouko who sunk her fingers into his hair and parted her lips to sweep her tongue over his lips. Opening his mouth Ren moaned. He knew that he had to stop before he took things too far. His body had stopped listening to him, however, and Kyouko's actions conveyed a want to learn that he found impossible to deny. The way she was squirming in his lap gave him the idea that she wanted him to touch her.

A low guttural groan echoed in Kyouko's ears as she felt her body jolt to life at the touch of his fingers. Her hips bucked into his hand receiving a shock wave of pleasure. Abruptly Ren pulled away, grasping the situation and finally regaining control of his body he dropped her on to the couch and moved away from her.

"You're a wolf Kuon. A damned evil wolf and you don't deserve her." He berated himself pacing away from the couch.

Kyouko stared up at him, from her place sprawled out on the couch. She felt numb, she felt like a thousand tiny electric shocks were coursing through her body from the tips of her fingers tingling down to her toes. She felt alive and she felt like Ren had stabbed her with her kitchen knife and twisted the blade into her heart, and she felt guilty for missing his touch. Overwhelmed she curled up into herself unable to cry and wanting to be as small as possible. She heard a door open and close and vaguely noted that Ren had left her there.

 **A/N Before anyone asks, because I'm evil, that's why. My heart broke writing it too though.**


	10. Hell

**See I'm just too scared to tell you the truth  
Cause my heart ache can't take anymore  
Broken and bruised longing for you  
And I don't know what I'm waiting for**

Kyouko held her breath when she heard the door reopen and footsteps approached her. She cursed herself for not leaving the room, now she would have to face his rejection again. There was pressure on the edge of the couch as he sat beside her. He must have believed she was sleeping because he rested his hand on her waist and leaned in kissing her temple.

"I'm sorry." He whispered before breaking contact as quickly as he could. Kyouko waited for him to say more, hoping he would explain what had happened. When no more words came she sat up abruptly startling him.

For the longest moment they were caught in each other's gaze, dangerously close to being pulled back together to finish what Ren had ended. Kyouko hated the feeling of craving his touch, but knowing he didn't want hers. She would rather be repulsed by his presence then drawn to the warmth of his skin. Reluctantly she tore her eyes away from his and searched the room for anything that could make the situation less awkward.

"What's that?" She pointed to a Styrofoam box set on the coffee table beside the couch.

Embarrassed Ren picked up the box to offer it to her. "My lame attempt to apologize. I don't really know how to fix what I've done." Refusing to make any kind of contact she gingerly took the box, more for something to do than to accept his apology. "I'm sorry, Kyouko."

Kyouko flinched away from the sound of her name leaving his mouth. It wasn't fair that his voice could still make her insides swarm with love fairies, even after he had been so cruel. He was worse than Shoutaro had ever been. To distract herself she flipped the top open on the box to find hamburger steak with an egg on top. Were there no tension between them she might have teased him by expressing her hopes that he hadn't cooked it himself.

"It's your favorite right?" She clenched her teeth together her hurt morphing into anger. He thought he could buy her forgiveness with a box of food? "I'm sorry. I should never have kissed you like that." Ren knew he was being an asshole, but he was hoping he could salvage the situation. He wasn't sure how but he knew he had to make it seem as though he had simply gotten carried away in the scene. He didn't like tricking her but if he had to convince her that it had been Ryuunosuke kissing Momiji to make her trust him again, then that was what he was going to do.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" Kyouko asked gripping the box. He was sorry for kissing her? Not for rejecting her and leaving her alone, but for finally giving her what she wanted. She wished he would have come back and continued. Maybe a piece of her had hoped that he'd only left to make sure there was no chance of anyone coming in and catching them. Or that he needed to get protection, or to collect his thoughts. She wanted him to feel as overwhelmed as she did, but why would he? The playboy had, had dozens of women, each more beautiful and experienced than she ever would be.

"Kyouko, please don't hate me. I'll do whatever you want. I know this isn't enough, but ask me for anything and it's yours. I'm willing to do anything to prove that I'm sorry, and that I'll never do anything like that again." She listened to his promises in silence, her rage growing with every syllable he spoke.

"You're so full of bullshit, Tsuruga-sempai." The wicked mocking tone in her voice filled him with fear but at least she was speaking to him. He hoped that was a good sign and was willing to accept any punishment she gave him.

Unprepared for the force he fell backwards on to the floor as Kyouko smashed the box of food in his face.

"What I want is to never have to see your face again. I wish that I could erase your voice from my mind, scrape the feeling of you off of my skin!" She screamed jumping off the couch and stepping over him towards the door. "I have done everything to try to be what you want me to be, and I'm tired. You're the worst. Out of everyone who has ever hurt me, you are by far the most despicable one. Treating me as if I were something special to you. Making me believe and hope again. All along all you really did was lie to me because I was never the one you wanted." Blinking back her tears she gave him a look of disdain. "Don't speak to me outside of work. I don't wanna be your sister, or your kohai, or anything else like that."

Before she could make her exit a hand clasped around her arm pulling her back to him. The sight of egg yolk and sauce dripping down his face might have been laughable in another situation, but as they were Kyouko could only think that he looked pathetic. A hopeless man who had never been in love with anyone and probably never would learn how.

"I never wanted you to be my sister. You did that all on your own." Ren said fearing that if he didn't explain, she would leave and he'd never be allowed near her again.

"Let go." Kyouko seethed trying to pull her hand out of his grip. She wished her grudges would attack him but they had never worked when he was involved. The stupid creatures either coward in fear of his smile or worshiped his demonic aura. "Let go of me, Tsuruga-san." Her demands only made him tighten his grip.

"Kyouko, listen to me." Kyouko managed to avoid his other hand when it tried to wrap around her waist to bring her to him. "Kyouko, please."

"You're hurting me!" He loosened his grip and she snatched her hand away backing up. "Don't speak to me outside of work."

Kyouko ran to her dressing and shut herself inside. Not bothering with the lights she sat on the floor willing herself to cry but finding that she couldn't. She wasn't sure how much time had passed before the door opened and her heart skipped hoping he had finally come to find her. The lights blinded her and she had to blink to make out the feminine figure entering the room.

"You look like hell." Kanae said closing the door behind herself. "What's wrong?" She crouched in front of Kyouko worry evident on her face.

"Tsuruga-san kissed me." In spite of her broken heart her face colored at the memory of his lips on hers.

Sighing Kanae stood back up, "Is that all?" She walked over to her side of the room to gather her normal clothes.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Kyouko snapped wishing Kanae would be a little bit more sensitive to her feelings.

"Nothing," wary of the dark aura now surrounding her friend Kanae explained. "Weren't you practicing for the scene?"

Kyouko shook her head but said, "yes." No tears came to her eyes and that was more frustrating than if she were to crumble to the floor and uncontrollably spill her emotions all over. It was an odd feeling to be sad to the point of not being able to express her heart break. "That's all it was for him. I guess I was the one being selfish."

"Honestly Kyouko, you act like kissing him is the end of the world." Knowing her friend tended to overreact about those sorts of things Kanae shook her head and added. "Get over it already, the faster you do the sooner you won't have to do it anymore. That scene would be done with if you…"

"If I what? If I were a better actress? Better at pretending to not have feelings for," Kyouko gasped feeling a lump grow in her chest. She had never told Kanae how she felt about Ren. Never dared to utter the words to anyone other than the president. She couldn't even handle admitting it to herself, how could she tell other people. "Sorry."

"Kyouko?" Kanae made a move to reach for her but Kyouko shook her head pressing herself into the wall and using it to pull herself up on unsteady legs.

"You're right I can't freeze up every time I have to film an intimate scene. Ren said the same thing, you know. That I need to get over it." Quivering lips spoke the words and Kanae wasn't sure what to make of that.

"Hey," again when she reached for her, Kyouko shrunk against the wall to avoid her touch.

"I think I need some air. I'll walk to the hotel." Before Kanae could stop her Kyouko took off running.

"Kyouko!" She attempted to run after her but Kyouko was too fast and determined to get away.

"Kyouko-chan?" Kyouko heard Yashiro call out to her on her way out but she ignored him. "What did that idiot do now?" Yashiro asked himself as he stalked over to Ren's dressing room ready to berate his charge.

"Oh no you don't," Kanae intercepted the manager. "I need to interrogate him more than you do."

Koga shook his head at the situation before roaming outside to find Kyouko in tears. She had stopped just outside the door, frozen by the realization that she had no place to go and no one to call. Her two closest friends were both inside and she had no desire to speak to either of them. If it were earlier in the day she might have chanced a call to Chiori, but then there was the fear that she would say the same thing as Kanae. Phone in hand she scrolled through a list of names and shook at the thought that there was no one she could turn to.

"President?" She shook her head, doubting that love monster would have any useful advice. The tears burned a path down her face then feeling alone and forgotten.

Her fingers lingered over names of people who she might have become closer to, had she not been so absorbed in her relationship with Ren. All of the women from dark moon had been nice enough to her, but she had always eaten with Ren and Yashiro, or director Ogata. She scoffed thinking that she had told Ren things that she hadn't even told Kanae, treating him as more of a best friend than anybody else.

A sudden heat entered her from a metal object being pressed to her neck. She jumped away from the offending object with a screech. Mirthful laughter filled the air as Koga crouched down to where she had landed on the ground offering her a can of warm coffee.

"You could have burned me." Kyouko accused, to which Koga replied by tapping his bruised nose. "Fair enough." She said accepting the can and the friendship even if both would be fleeting comforts.

"Let's go get something to eat, my treat." He didn't wait for her to reply, knowing that she was going to protest he gripped her wrist and pulled her up. "You're the one who said that actors have to eat properly or they cannot be considered true professionals." Those words sounded vaguely familiar to her so she allowed herself to be pulled along with him.

Kanae glared up at the man trying to figure out if she could get away with strangling him. "I honestly don't know if I should feel sorry for you or slap you." She admitted which made Ren grateful that he was so good at lying. "You could have been nice and sweet to her but instead you scolded her for not being a good enough actress to portray love? This is Kyouko we're talking about, Love Me number one and you thought it would be a good idea to kiss her without warning and admonish her for freaking out on you!"

"You should probably slap him," Yashiro interjected not believing a thing Ren had told them. He knew there was more to the story, but thought that it would be best if Kanae heard it from Kyouko. "Then we can pity him for being such an idiot."

Ren was thrown back in shock more than from pain as Kanae's hand collided with his cheek. He supposed he deserved more than that but the one he really wanted to punish him wanted nothing to do with him.

"If it were up to me, you would never have been allowed to get so close to her. But I've seen you with her. The attention and care you give her is something that she deserves to have, and I was starting to think that you might not be so bad. Then you go and do something stupid and mess it all up for yourself! The worst part is I don't think I can fix it, only you can do that now." Kanae pointed to the door hinting at him to go find Kyouko. When he made no move to go she tapped her foot and expressed her frustration. "Mo! Go find her and fix this."

Ren shook his head with a grim expression. "Why not?" Kanae questioned exasperated to find that he was as stubborn about facing his feelings as Kyouko.

"She told me that she doesn't want to see or speak to me unless it's for work." Ren answered sullenly.

Kanae narrowed her eyes disgusted by the both of them. "You are the biggest idiot I have ever met if you believed her. Actually it's a tie between the two of you. You're both stupid and I should slap you again." Ren turned his cheek welcoming the abuse. "I'm not going to. It's bad enough I hit you the first time. If Kyouko ever found out she'd probably lecture me about it for an hour." She lifted her hands shaking her head. "It's no use talking to you. You're an idiot. She's an idiot. I feel myself going crazy from having to watch this all play out."

Turning to Yashiro she bid him 'goodnight' telling him to properly teach his charge how to treat young maidens. Then she exited the room in search of Kyouko so they could go to their hotel and sleep.

"What really happened?" Yashiro asked leaning on the closed door.


	11. Friends

**Left on the sidelines  
Stuck at a red light**

"I see. I see. Very interesting." Koga massaged his chin in a discerning manner. "So what you're saying is, the two of you have zero love experience and nobody around you actually has the guts to shove you guys together."

Kyouko cocked her head and scrunched her brows together. She had been silent the whole time as Koga re-enacted the week out through his eyes then gave his analysis on certain events.

"I don't know the specifics but sometimes that can be a good thing. I have fresh unbiased eyes, and I can see things more clearly then the four of you idiots." He finally concluded, speaking more to himself then to Kyouko, who picked at the food he had insisted on paying for. "Here's what you need to do." He took her plate. "Do you want me to tell you what to do?" He looked like an eager child and that pissed Kyouko off. It made her think of Ren.

"About what?" Kyouko asked more as a distraction to herself than anything. She was honestly surprised to be included in his conversation so suddenly.

"About the sexual tension going on between you and Japan's sexiest bachelor." Koga answered as if he was appalled that she hadn't been paying attention. "Don't give me that look of disbelief, everybody can see that there is something going on with you and Ren."

"You're mistaken," Kyouko sighed wanting to explain that Ren would never have feelings for her because he was already in love with someone else.

"Hush. I don't wanna hear your nonsense. I've seen the way you look at him, and I get it, you have some sort of issue with intimacy." He held up his hand to silence her. "From what I can tell, though Ren is a very good guy, and he's been patient and understanding. Stop torturing him, and stop belittling yourself, because you deserve someone like him. You should be with someone who will try to make you as happy as possible."

"Koga-san, I'll admit that you have guessed the truth about me." Kyouko blushed to be so honest with Koga, who she barely knew, but since he had already figured her out she didn't see the sense in lying about something she was dying to speak about. "But Tsuruga-san, could never have feelings for me." Her voice broke saying the words. She could still feel his hands or rather the loss of them when he left her there.

"And why the hell not?" Koga didn't understand the girl's inability to see her own self-worth. "I could see myself falling for you if it weren't so obvious that your heart is his. You're a great actress, and gorgeous, and funny even when you don't mean to be. And I've seen the way you take care of the people you care about, that man would have to be deaf, dumb, and blind not to fall in love with you."

Kyouko shook her head not wanting to hear anything he was saying. It was a cruel joke he was trying to play on her and she wanted to slap him for trying to give her hope.

Koga narrowed his eyes, not finding her lack of self-esteem endearing. "Are you a man Kyouko?"

"No?" Kyouko replied confused by the sudden subject change.

"Well I am, and I say you are beautiful. As a man I can tell you that any man would be lucky to love you. I also say, as a man who has experienced love first hand, that Tsuruga Ren is in love with you."

"No." Kyouko denied his words standing up fast enough to cause the contents of their glasses to spill over.

Calmly Koga passed her food back to her motioning for her to sit back down.

"No? I suppose beauty is subjective so you are welcome to your own opinion of yourself, however wrong it may be. There is no denying the truth though, and the truth is he looks at you like a starving man looks at the most delectable meal, that he isn't allowed to eat. So let me tell you what you should do."

Kyouko took her seat, noting that people in the cafeteria they were in were starting to give her strange looks. "What?" She had been wondering what to do. Regretting the words she had spoken to Ren, she wanted nothing more than to go back to him and apologize. Though her blood boiled for feeling like she was the one at fault. Part of her wanted him to come crawling to her and beg for forgiveness.

"Go to him and tell him he can eat you." Bright red colored every inch of her skin that was visible when his words came out as a husky whisper. "See you're not as innocent as you pretend to be. You know exactly what I'm talking about."

Kyouko shook her head dispelling the images that his words had planted in her mind.

"I have no idea what you're talking about, Koga-san. I am Love me member number one and I'm only seventeen and still in high school," Kyouko paused on her words not quite sure why they bothered her. "I'm a high school student." She shook her head again. "No, that isn't," she tripped over her words, her voice thick with emotion. "The problem is he likes Kanae. I know that. It wouldn't be me. It could never be me."

She was mumbling to herself, Koga knew but he couldn't let her continue her lies. "Kanae, is not the one he accepted this job to be around. I don't even think he likes her. Except as your friend I doubt he thinks of her at all. She definitely does not like him." He released an annoyed curse seeing the tears in her eyes. "Someone broke you good, kid. You're not stupid though. You know how he feels, but you're afraid and would rather lie to yourself than admit that he has a certain smile reserved just for you. Stop telling yourself that he isn't distracted by your mere presence and that he doesn't love the sound of your voice."

Wiping at her tears she shook her head casting his words away from her ears as she whispered, "He didn't want me."

Koga nodded her words confirming what he had guessed. "Something happened in the dressing room. Something that had Ren flustered and mumbling to himself about being a stupid pathetic man who didn't deserve to live. He ran into the wall, but he did all that he could to avoid being seen by everyone on set, especially his manager." He pushed the napkin dispense to her. "He's an idiot, I'll give you that, but the man has been denying himself for so long he must be confused. That's why it's up to you to tell him that he doesn't have to control himself anymore. Let him know that it would be okay if he reaches out and takes what he wants. You don't have to give him everything right away, but trust me that it wouldn't hurt to give him a little bit of yourself. You won't be seventeen and in high school forever, but I think he intends to wait for the rest of his life for your permission." Seeing Kanae walking into the cafeteria he waved her over. "Just consider asking him for some small form of affection and go from there. How lucky you are," he said as Kanae walked over to them. "You have two people who love you and one who hopes you never admit how much you love the other. Love is like that, equal parts wanting the other person to be happy and not wanting to have to share them."

"Go away I have to speak with Kyouko." Kanae barked at Koga.

"I already did that. It's pointless, this girl doesn't listen." He said leaning his chair back casually and winked at her. "Be nice to her, she's hard enough on herself as it is."

"I know that." Kanae softened her voice taking in the many used napkins and the redness of Kyouko's eyes.

Koga reached out a hand to pat Kyouko on the head. "See you later, kid. Try to remember, you are a good thing, and so is love." He pointed at Kanae, "That goes for you too." Kanae made a face at him wanting him to go away faster. He pet her head too, quickly pulling his hand away and running before she could kit him.

"I'm sorry for upsetting you earlier. Do you want to talk about it?" Kanae asked taking Koga's empty seat. Kyouko was staring down at her hands going over everything Koga had said to her, and showing no signs of speaking. "Tell me what happened. Please?" Being gentle wasn't her normal approach but her friend looked too fragile for her to force the truth out of. "Let's go back to the hotel. We can give each other facials and you can tell me all about it. Okay?" Kyouko nodded needing the comfort and knowing she would have to face Kanae eventually.

Yashiro stared at Ren mouth agape, trying to process what he had just heard. Of all the idiotic things a man could do, he had never imagined that Ren would be stupid enough to first of all drop Kyouko on the couch and storm out of the room. Second of all what kind of idiot apologized for that with food? He asked Ren exactly that, but his charge didn't have an answer.

"How was I supposed to apologize? I couldn't exactly say that I was sorry for taking advantage of her, for nearly taking her virginity on a random sofa in a dressing room. Especially since I regretted stopping, though I know it was the right thing to do. You don't have to tell me what an idiot I am for daring to touch her like that, but you don't understand how hard it is to resist her." Ren was desperate for his best friend to understand and advise him on how to fix what he had done. He was not sure what if anything could be done to earn Kyouko's trust back.

"Yes, you are an idiot. What you should have done is lock the door, confess to the girl, and then gone as far as she would let you." Ren looked at him incredulously. "Don't you think that Kyouko would have stopped you if she didn't want you kissing her? Why would she let you get that far if it wasn't what she wanted? Do you think that just because she's young and inexperienced that she is naïve and unable to make her own decisions?"

"No, but," Ren couldn't think of what to say. He had only stopped to protect her. Why did that make him the bad guy?

"Ren." Yashiro took a scolding tone with him. "It is natural for you to want to protect Kyouko, but you also have to respect her as a human being who can think and choose for herself. If she is actively participating in whatever it is you're doing, you should at least ask her if she wants you to stop before you do. Don't throw her to the side like a toy you've grown bored of and leave the room!" The manager grew more frustrated with every word he spoke. After all of his careful match making and scheming, Ren had dared to screw himself over like this. "I'll bet you could have come back and resumed your activities and she would have forgiven you. No, you had to come back with a box of food and you were dumb enough to apologize for kissing her. You know she has a bad image of herself. You know that she must have felt like a fool, for thinking her dear sempai would want an unattractive, woman without a feminine figure. That's exactly what that poor girl must be thinking. You sir, are the stupidest man I have ever met, and I'm starting to doubt whether or not you deserve her."

Ren closed his eyes having forgotten that she considered herself to be plain and boring. It was difficult to imagine that anyone could describe her in that way, when she was his favorite person to look at. Maybe Yashiro was right, he didn't deserve Kyouko.

"You spend all that time staring at her, but I wonder if you ever actually see her. Do you ever notice the way she looks at you?" Yashiro asked tapping his foot impatiently. "Lucky for you I am an observant manager. While under my care Kyouko constantly brought up the subject of you more times than I could count. Listen to me when I tell you that I think that girl has a very large crush on you. At first I thought she was too innocent to notice as well, but I think more than anything that was my own protectiveness of her being projected onto the situation. Based on my analysis Kyouko is extremely aware of her feelings for you and I wouldn't doubt that she has some sense of your emotions as well."

"First of all I told you to stop getting my hopes up, that is even more important now that she wants nothing to do with me. Second, I already know that she knows how I feel, because she told me right before she decided that we should pretend to be siblings." Yashiro was taken aback for a moment at hearing this but then he imagined that Ren must have misunderstood her.

He raised a hand to pause the conversation. "Wait a minute. Tell me about this conversation so that I can interpret it for you. Since we've already established that you lack experience when it comes to understanding women. Particularly Kyouko, because you're too in love to be sensible."

Kanae tried to hold in her laughter. It wasn't a funny situation; it really wasn't something that should make her laugh. But she couldn't help but want to laugh at the stupidity of an otherwise smart and capable man. She felt bad because Kyouko was so hurt by his actions but she also had a feeling that they could work it out in the end. Years from now, and Kanae hoped it would be many years, they would be married and she could tease Kyouko about their almost first time.

"I'm sorry." Kyouko was saying. "I've been thinking weird thinks lately and making myself jealous of you. But you don't have any feelings for Ren, do you?"

Kanae raised an eyebrow wondering where Kyouko had taken the conversation while she was daydreaming about buying a bridesmaid's dress. Once the idea of being so close to someone had seemed impossible and Kanae had never looked forward to such a thing but now a small smile formed on her face as she imagined being so important to her friend. Even if she hoped to never have to give Kyouko away to any man. She shook her head realizing that Kyouko's daydreaming nature was beginning to rub off on her.

"Yes I do have feelings for him." She teased knowing Kyouko all too well. "I feel so much hate and anger towards him that it is hard for me to accept your obvious infatuation with the overrated actor. Sure he's good and he has a decent face but why does that mean I have to be so jealous of him? Why does he own so much more real-estate in your heart than I do?"

"He doesn't!" Kyouko protested but even to her ears it sounds flat and false.

"Just stop Kyouko. Stop pretending that he isn't the most important person in your world." Kanae opened a small package and poured the contents in a bowl. "And stop ignoring all the signs of you being the only reason his world spins." With a small brush she began to paint a clay mask onto Kyouko's face. "I bet he'd pay me big for a picture of you with a mask on your face." She mused hoping to fluster Kyouko. "Of course you have every right to torment him a little bit. Just to teach him a lesson."

Sighing Kyouko stared down at her hands. "I wish people would stop telling me what I already know. How are you so sure that I know anything about that man? There was a moment that I thought, that maybe I was special to him, but I was never certain."

Kanae rolled her eyes wishing she didn't have to help her best friend with this. She didn't want Kyouko to love that jerk and spend even more time with him, but how could she let Kyouko continue to doubt herself.

"I have never seen a man so desperate to get someone's attention." She said opening another packet and handing Kyouko a new brush. "It's plain to see that he is obsessed but don't take my word for it. Instead of assuming things and making up your mind that you're not good enough, why don't you try asking him?" Kyouko lifted the brush and smeared the green paste onto Kanae's face.

"Because he's a good liar and would say anything to make me feel better. Even if it meant that he would be put in an awkward situation. I can't trust him to honestly say that he's in love with someone else, someone more like you." Kanae took her hand stilling her sweeping motions.

"I don't really care what you do about Tsuruga-san." She admitted locking her eyes with Kyouko. "What I want you to understand is that I would never take him from you. Can we talk about us for a few minutes instead of him? I don't want there to be a rift between us." At Kyouko's nod Kanae continued. "I know that I don't say it often and I won't repeat it after this, but I do love you Kyouko. You're smart and beautiful and I really hate it when you compare yourself to me as if you're somehow less than I am. If you don't gain some confidence and start recognizing your own ability as an actress, then I will have to stop speaking to you."

Blushing from her friend's words Kyouko leaped at her. "Moko-san!"

"Get off of me!" Kanae protested, laughing as she hugged Kyouko back.

 **A/N This is gonna end soon. Funny thing is I had planned out four chapter but decided to prolong the story due to people's reactions, I'm kind of evil like that. Thanks for all the feedback.**


	12. Grey Area

**Waiting for my time  
So just tell me**

 **Why don't you love me?**

"I need to speak with you." Kyouko whispered into the phone so that she wouldn't wake Kanae.

"Now?" A groggy voice responded.

"You owe me a lot. And you made a promise." She held her temper at bay throwing warry glances at Kanae. "I need to ask you something."

"So ask." He barked back slightly more awake than before.

"In person stupid. Otherwise I would have started with my question. I don't trust you to tell me the truth over the phone. You'd probably still try to lie to me face to face but if I can see you I'll know you're lying." Kyouko seethed between clenched teeth.

"Now?" He asked again taking a whiny tone.

"Yes, now Shoutaro!" Losing her temper, she yelled too loudly. Quick as a ninja she closed her phone and fell down on her bed hiding under the covers.

Kanae shifted in her bed sitting up in her half sleep state. She looked over to check on Kyouko who was breathing steadily and seemed to be soundly asleep. She smiled rolling over to fall back asleep. Kyouko waited for what felt like an eternity, for her phone to vibrate. _Where?_ Was the simple text from bastard number one, she smiled despite her annoyance and sent her reply.

Ren stared at his phone wanting to call Kyouko. Yashiro had told him to call her. Cryptically he had informed Ren that he had misunderstood everything and needed to listen to Kyouko but he wouldn't explain anything. With a sigh he stared at a stolen picture of her on his phone. It had been two days since they last spoke, two days since she told him she wanted nothing to do with him anymore. Two days since he had last been on set and he was on his way there. The worst part was that Kanae would be gone and Yashiro had been refusing to speak to him. Who would he speak to in order to be near her. If Yashiro were speaking to him, he could send him to speak to her and then join the conversation.

"Stop scheming idiot. Just go over to her and tell her you miss her." His manager grated staring out at the red light.

"Oh, are you speaking to me?" Ren asked more than a little irritable.

"Don't sulk." Yashiro snapped still annoyed with his charge. "I told you to call her, but you were too stubborn. If you're hurting from the lack of her presence, it's your own fault."

"How can I call her? She'd just let it go to voicemail anyway, and if by some miracle she does answer what am I supposed to say?" Before Yashiro could answer he interjected. "Stop assuring me that she feels the same way about me as I do about her. You won't be the one who suffers if you're wrong." He was aware that he was being a brat, but he couldn't trust his fan girl manager to have analyzed the situation correctly. He had learned from experience that her heart could not be swayed.

"The better question is how a grown man can behave like such a spoiled child?" Yashiro asked turning into a parking space. "What are you going to do when the two of you are together? If you sulk every time things don't go your way, she'll grow tired of you and dump you in no time. No one wants to deal with a selfish brat."

Still sulking Ren exited the car. He didn't need to be told that he was acting like a child, he knew he had bad habits. To be scolded like a five-year-old who had refused to eat his vegetables however made him feel small and stupid. Yashiro should not talk to him some more instead of saying things like that.

"Finally. I thought you would never show up, and here I rescheduled an appointment just to come see you." Ren halted his steps surprised by a familiar voice. He looked up to find a blond nuisance blocking the door he had to enter to get to Kyouko.

"You make it a habit of being places you don't belong. I'm amazed your company keeps someone as troublesome as you around." Jealousy selected his words for him as he knew the singer must have been there to see Kyouko.

"Relax, I'll be leaving soon. I don't want Kyouko to spot me." Shou's leg twitched thinking about the tiny girl and her powerful kicks to his shin. The nerve of her calling him to see her in the middle of the night just to use him as her punching bag. "I only came to ask you something."

"If you hit him please avoid the face. He's already covering the bruise Kotonami-san left him." Yashiro said walking passed them.

"I think I like that girl." Shou said nodding to Yashiro. "At least Kyouko is happier with her."

"What do you want Fuwa?" Ren asked appalled that his manager would leave him behind, or assume that he'd let Fuwa hit him. As if the kid stood a chance against him in a fight.

"Nothing much, I only wanted to rub it in that Kyouko called me last night. She hasn't spoken to you in two days but she called me to come here and see her in the middle of the night. Can you guess what we did, all alone, at night?" His driver had been there but Ren didn't need to know that, or that she had left bruises all over his legs. He frowned remembering the way she had begged him to tell her she was ugly and worthless because everyone else lied to her.

"I don't have time to argue with you Fuwa. I have even less time if all you want to do is talk about your love life."

"How boring." Shou had been hoping to get a rise out of him. If it had been him, he would have retaliated by bragging about getting to spend all day with her. Or said something about the kiss she had mumbled something about during their conversation. She hadn't given him any sort of details or fully explained why she had been so down on herself, but he knew it had something to do with Ren. "Fine, I'll ask my question and go. You don't even have to answer just think about it. I didn't give up on her for you to play around and break her heart."

Ren knit his brows together confused by the younger boy's words. "Tsuruga-san, can you be trusted to protect her heart? If you can't then stop acting like you're in love with her. Though I'm afraid the damage has already been done and she's fallen for you. If you don't love her back, then she'll never recover and you'll be the one drowning in shame." Walking closer he lowered his voice. "I don't want any more late night calls. Don't make her cry again. Even if you are bigger than I am, I'll fight you to the death, because I'm the only one allowed to treat her like shit. You have to be the prince and behave yourself. Those are our roles."

Gritting his teeth Ren ignore the mock friendly pat on the shoulder and stalked away from Shou not wanting to be late for work or be in the singer's presence any longer. Kyouko had called him, he fumed to himself. She had met up with _that guy_ in the middle of the night. Actively called _him_ and asked to see _him_ , and though he was in no position to be angry, Ren was furious. He didn't want to hear anything the musician had to say, didn't want to believe that Kyouko could have any lingering feelings for a guy like that. Give her up? Had Fuwa actually given Kyouko up, then what was that kiss? Seeing the object of his obsessive thoughts talking to his best friend he stopped in his tracks. Yashiro's advice resounded in his head but fear gripped his heart and he turned to walk the other way to speak with the director.

"Good morning Yashiro-san." Kyouko greeted looking passed Yashiro in search of the tall brooding actor she loved. It was true that Shoutaro was an idiot but he wouldn't lie to her about something like that. When even he insisted that Ren must have feelings for her then she couldn't stop herself from hoping. Shou would rather tear them apart then put them together, but he had taken her abuse and even encouraged her to take Koga's suggestion. 'Ask for a small gesture.'

Her anger had faded and she even laughed thinking about what had happened. She wished she had a picture of him with food all over his face. That didn't even make her feel bad, because Kanae and Shou had assured her that he probably deserved worse. Of course she had glossed over everything when she told Shou, he didn't need to know much of anything. It annoyed her that she had even thought to call him and confide in him. Though he did make her feel better when he admitted that the only reason he couldn't see her as a woman was because she was his childhood friend. To him she was a child, a lost little girl he had been stuck with and had to show sympathy for his mother's sake. In his world that meant he cared about her.

"Ren is outside speaking to your old friend. He should come in and storm over to you demanding you explain yourself. Forgive me Kyouko-chan, I have raise such a rotten boy." Gripping her shoulders and with tears in his eyes he tried explain to her. "Even though he's selfish and brash, he means well I swear. Please be patient and don't punish him too harshly. I'm counting on you to be the sane one."

Kyouko raised her hands in defense backing far enough away from him that he had to drop his hands.

"Sorry." He said remembering himself. "I am rooting for you though, Kyouko-chan." They both saw Ren spot them in the crowd and simultaneously cursed him with narrowed eyes when he rerouted himself towards the director. "Idiot! Of all the stupid…" Yashiro walked off with a tirade of expletives falling from his mouth. Kyouko narrowed her eyes her hands gripping her swords.

Here she was all ready to forgive him and he was being a coward refusing to face her. In love or not she refused to let him behave like a sulking child any longer. He even had the nerve to not call her once. Of course that was probably because she told him not to speak to her, but who the hell did he think he was obeying that kind of spontaneous inconsiderate request?

"Can we get it right this time?" Director Morizumi gave Kyouko a pointed look as he called everyone to their places. "Since Chidori isn't here we're only going to film the two of you and cut her in later. Please just kiss each other and get this over with." He was too exhausted to butt egos with the two actors and was ready to finish the scene.

Ren took a deep breath wondering how Kyouko looked so calm. They hadn't seen each other in two days and he was a wreck, like a junky who needed his fix. It took all the strength he had in him to not call her or sneak back on set just to see her. Then he was forced to ignoring her very presence from the moment he had arrived on set as per her request. Of course he was failing miserably at it. Every chance they got his eyes searched for her in the crowded room. Standing in front of her he had to remind himself how to breath and steady his hands before they reached out to touch her.

At the directors command she moved forward with the scene but Ren found that he couldn't. All he could do was block as she attacked him. The memory of her telling him not to touch her echoed in his brain, keeping his muscles stiff. He did nothing to fight her off for fear that his touch would harm her. Fueled by anger Kyouko began to hit harder. How could he not even attempt to get in touch with her? Her brain screamed. Everyone was so convinced that he wanted her, but he had stayed far away just because she told him to.

"Cut!" Morizumi shouted but his actors ignored him. Kyouko slammed her blades down knocking the sword from Ren's hands. She paused to catch her breath for a moment, eyes filled with rage as they stared him down. Ren opened his arms to her, welcoming defeat. "I said cu…"

"Quiet!" Kuresaki shoved Morizumi down in his chair. "I like this." Kuresaki watched the scene wishing that it had been his idea to have Ryuunosuke surrender easily to Momiji. What better way was there to prove his love than to offer up his life to her?

Looking to the side Kyouko tried to gather her thoughts. She was a swarm of anger and guilt, and her stomach ached with the anxiousness that seeing him always stirred inside of her. She raised her swords wishing she could hate the man standing in front of her.

"No one will ever love you as much as I do." He said honestly. Kyouko slowed her actions before coming to a complete halt with one of her swords pressed to his neck. "I'm sorry, but I had to prove that to you. He'll come and save her and only think of you after she is safe. You will never be his priority, but you could be my queen." The lines were meant for another scene but they were all he could think of.

"I'd rather die than betray the man I love." A hand gripped her arm and twisted, forcing her to relinquish a sword. With lightning speed his other hand flipped her around, pulling her against his hard body and catching her other hand before she could cut his neck with her counter attack. They breathed heavily both holding a blade to the other's throat.

"You could die here and he would be glad to make it in time to save her." They both pretended to look off to the side at an unconscious Chidori. "I would worship you. If only you'd be mine."

Ren placed his lips to hers and Kyouko loosened her grip on her sword nearly dropping it as she leaned in to his kiss momentarily. It took a second for her to remember the scene but she followed through with it. Grasping her sword tightly she brought it down slicing across his chest knocking him to the ground in shock. He lost the other sword and Momiji rushed in to finish him off but a noise to her side distracted her. Shizuma burst in and ignoring her rushed to Chidori's side.

"Cut!" Morizumi shouted in disgust. "Get off my set and go read your scripts both of you!" He was fed up with Kuresaki giving Kyouko so much leeway. Since when was a talent allowed to change scenes? And she was a junior actor abusing her sempai when the script hadn't even called for it. It would be his head on the line if she had hurt Tsuruga Ren under his watch, but Kuresaki didn't seem to care.

Kyouko scoffed throwing her swords down at Ren. He caught her angry glare and shrunk lower to the floor. "You didn't even try to call me."

"Neither did you." He countered nearly missing the point. "Wait, did you want me to call you?"

Making a noise of disgust Kyouko walked off stage. His comment had gotten to her, he was right after all she hadn't called him either. Ren dropped his head to the floor staring up at the ceiling until Koga's face blocked his view.

"Go after her, stupid. How many people have to tell you to do so before you listen? I know Yashiro had to have given you some good advice. He's a smart manager, the best of the best." He took a seat on the floor beside Ren. "What a lucky man to have two people who love you so much. Of course you're too stupid to notice she does."

Ren closed his eyes wishing everyone would stop insisting on giving him hope. "You'll never get anything you want if you just lay there like a giant useless lump. At least have the guts to ask her how she feels before convincing yourself we're all mistaken." Nudging Ren he continued to speak. "How many people have told you she's in love with you? I'm beginning to understand why it took them so long to say anything. Since neither of you listen it seems pointless for even me to waste my breath. I can't just let it go though. The two of you would be the talk of the country. Imagine the ratings! Imagine the wedding. Imagine the little Rens and Kyoukos running around, bumping into things and driving Kanae-chan insane." Ren covered his eyes with his arms.

"Fine if you don't want her, I confess that I have a small crush on her. Maybe I could swoop in and pick up the pieces. I'm not afraid to tell her how beautiful she is, and I'm not opposed to kissing her." Koga only half meant his words. He did like her, and maybe if he let that like grow into something more it could become a crush.

"You don't touch her." Koga jumped at the menacing tone that seeped out of Ren like a dark cloud of poison.

He surrendered with his hands raised and his eyes pleading. "Hey I've been supporting you this whole time." With a hand over his heart he added, "I promise I am team Ren-sempai all the way."

"You're annoying." Kuon leaked out gripping Koga's shoulder and pushing himself up. "Everyone except Kyouko is annoying. But she's god damned irritating and I am going to go tell her that."

"That's the spirit. Use your words and tell that girl you belong to her and she has to take responsibility and punish you properly. Yashiro doesn't know how to discipline you correctly." Kuon stopped to stare at Koga inquisitively.

"Are you a love monster like the boss? You are, aren't you. You and Yukihito are secretly love obsessed and you get your kicks out of watching real life as if it were a drama." Koga shrugged shooing Ren away.

"Just go talk to the kid already." He said growing agitated with the man. "Those two need therapy." He sighed watching Ren leave. "Ow," clutching his shoulder he winced in pain. He fell down to the floor wondering why he even bothered.


	13. You Could Just Kiss Me

**Touch me, tell me I'm your everything  
The air you breathe**

He found her by the vending machines staring out a window at a lone blue bird. Her eyes slid to the side indicating that she had spotted him but she did not acknowledge his presence. The words were on the tip of his tongue, a soft and sweet apologetic phrase that would melt the heart of any normal girl. But she was not a normal girl and he didn't want to make her swoon, he wanted her to be as impossibly in love with him as he was with her. He wanted the words of Yashiro, Koga, and even Shou to come true.

"Hi." He greeted her awkwardly examining the vending machine as though it was interesting. All of the determination to confront her seeped out of him as soon as he saw her. How could he believe anything they all said, when he knew from experience that she wasn't capable of seeing him as a man.

Kyouko felt her body react to his voice. It was disconcerting how her heart pounded with excitement and her skin began to heat up. She tried to think of all the reasons she was angry at him but her conversation with Shoutaro of all people kept replaying in her head.

When Shou had arrived looking irritable and complaining about having to get out of bed her first instinct was to kick him. And kick him and kick him.

"Ow!" With a hand on her head he pushed her away. "Knock it off! You called me here!" Calming herself down she went into a tirade of the cruelty of stupid impure men and begged him to tell her that she was plain and boring.

"Look, Kyouko, I have no idea what you're talking about but I assume it has something to do with that obnoxious actor you hang around. Before you get all defensive," Shou held up a hand silencing her before she could object to him calling Ren obnoxious. "I don't know him. I don't know much about acting either, but people say he's good so whatever. What I do know, from watching the two of you, is that he does not think you are plain or boring. He isn't me, Kyouko, and he can see you in a way that I can't." Shou patted her on the head. "I think he might be in love with you."

If what people kept telling her was true she wished Ren would prove it already. It was nice that everyone else wanted to make her feel better, but the only way she was going to believe it was if he said it. He wasn't saying anything however and Kyouko couldn't think of anything to say either. Why did they have to talk? She was tired of talking to him when she could never put into words exactly what she wanted to say. The sound of the machine dispensing a drink drew her attention. He had some nerve buying a soda while she was suffering in silent anxiousness trying to think of a way to start a conversation. Before she could lose her temper however he began to shake the can with so much vigor she feared he might accidentally fling it at the window and cause a disaster.

"Here, you can open it at me if I make you mad again." Perplexed she took the can, it was cold and she could feel the bubbles fizzing up inside waiting to explode. She could sympathize with the tiny can so filled up with emotions with no hope of release. "Or if my actions make you cry."

Suddenly he pulled her in a tight embrace but didn't dare kiss her. There was still a strong fear of being rejected. "I miss you." He breathed pulling away to look her in the eyes.

She shivered leaning into him for stability. "Prove it." She said trying to convey what she wanted from him without having to ask him to kiss her.

"Kyouko," he had to stop himself before he confused the look in her eyes for longing. Yashiro had filled his mind with too much hope. He was starting to see all the little signs that his manager had said he'd noticed. Reminding himself that they were in a hallway he took a couple of calming breaths and loosened his hold on her. "I saw you kissing _him_." Confused Kyouko frowned. "I arrived early for dinner at Darumaya, and you were with Fuwa. You kissed him and I couldn't bare the sight so I ran. Tell me that I'm mistaken, that what I saw wasn't real. Tell me you don't still love him."

There was a loud clacking sound then the unmistakable noise of something bursting open and exploding. A cold sticky spray of clear liquid hit Ren in the face then he felt the remaining contents being poured out over his head. Wiping the substance from his eyes he stared at Kyouko's bored expression.

"Why are you talking about stupid Shoutaro when I'm standing her practically begging you to kiss me?" She gripped the cloth around his neck and pulled him down. "First I didn't kiss him, he tricked me. Second why the hell would I have any feeling other that contempt for him? Third I tried to tell you before but you said that you didn't want to hear it." Her eyes widened understanding their conversation. "You thought that I had feelings for Shoutaro? It wasn't my feelings for you that you couldn't stand, but the feelings that you thought…" She trailed off realizing that if she had insisted on speaking instead of letting Ren silence her, she could have avoided a lot of misery. She shook her head wondering why they were so incapable of talking about their feelings with each other.

Deciding that they were never going to get anywhere trying to speak to each other, she placed her hands on his chest and leaned up to firmly press her lips to his. They kissed, a soft and brief caress that made both of them shiver with delight. Their breath mingled as they stayed close both trying to convince themselves to pull away, but unable to let go of the feeling. "If you hadn't stopped kissing me, I would have given you everything the other day. So tell me, who do you think I have feelings for?"

Kyouko snaked her hands up his chest to his neck, she sunk her fingers in his hair bringing his head back down for another kiss. Ren kept one hand on her head pulling her face as close to his as possible. His other hand was curved around her waist where he embraced her tightly. He groaned into their kisses, the feeling of her body pressed to his was causing him to go insane with lust.

Feeling her legs go weak Kyouko pulled away. The way she clung to him still leaning into his body fueled Ren's desire. He couldn't let her go, didn't want the moment be over with, not when it felt so right to have her in his arms. Running his hands up her back he realized that he might want her too much to think clearly. There was some reason, he was sure, he should keep the encounter innocent and not go too far but he couldn't think of what that reason might be. With no objections coming from her, he reached down and gripped her thighs to pull her up. She gave a squeak of a moan tightening her arms around his neck and instinctively wrapping her legs around his waist.

Ren gave a hiss, gripping her hips harshly as she crashed her lips down on his again. Their kisses rapidly evolved from sweet tender greetings, into hungry carnal battles for dominance, and he was surprised to find that she was winning. Her hands in his hair controlled his every move as she nipped at his lips. Ren shivered, more than happy to let her manipulate his body however she wanted. The unexpected feel of her tongue sweeping into his mouth sent jolts through him and he almost lost his balance. Deciding it was dangerous to continue standing unsupported, he walked backwards until his feet collided with the wall. He turned them around and pinned her to the wall.

Fearing it would end too soon he took her head in his hands and easily stole control from her. He slowed down the kiss, sucking her tongue into his mouth and showing her how a kiss could be full of lust and still be tender. Soft and delicate kisses made Kyouko whimper, she preferred it when she was the dominant one, but his kisses felt too good to fight for control. Relaxing into him, she loosened her grip on his neck sliding her hands to his chest. She slipped her fingers beneath the cloth of his costume wanting to feel the muscles that always made her feel safe.

"Wow!" Ren jumped hearing Koga exclaim the word. Kyouko dropped her head and hid in the costume she had loosened. "When I sent you to go get her, I meant take her somewhere private." He looked around the hallway. "You know you're in a hallway right? Anyone can walk by and see all of this." He motioned towards them with his hands.

Koga waited for them to respond but received only silent embarrassment. He watched as Ren placed Kyouko down slowly taking care to help her stand on her quivering legs. Kyouko remained hidden, clinging to Ren's costume like a life jacket.

"Lucky it's only me." Koga pointed to the vending machine. "I am just going to go over there and pretend you're not here. Hopefully when I turn back around that will be the truth." He did as he said but surreptitiously watched them scurry away by tilting his head slightly to one side. "I worry about those two. If Ren ever manages to get into her pants he'll probably die of happiness. On the other hand, if Kyouko makes the mistake of letting him in, he'll keep her locked up in his bed until they both die from exhaustion." He shrugged and made his selection on the machine. "I wonder why they poured soda all over the floor?"

Taking a tentative step into the room Kyouko hugged herself remembering his hands touching her. Wasn't she supposed to insist that they take things slow? He hadn't even said that it was her he was in love with and not Kanae or some other girl she didn't know of. The door clicked shut and she heard him lock it. She was trapped inside the room with the wolf who she had given permission to stop pretending to be a sheep. Hands settled on her shoulders causing her heart to race. His breath heated her ear as he leaned in to whisper to her. No one would be able to come and interrupt them. What frightened her was that she didn't want anyone to come and stop them.

"I'm going to go wash up before we have to go back to set. You should fix your makeup." Ren said softly so he wouldn't startle her.

Disappointed Kyouko nodded. His hands slid down her arms to her hands and he gave them a quick squeeze before letting go of her. In the back of his dressing room there was a small washroom, which he headed to while properly untying his costume.

"Ren." Kyouko called to him without thinking. He stopped to look at her wondering if she was mad at him for kissing her again. "I love you." To her horror she heard the words leave her mouth.


	14. Loved

**Open up your heart tonight  
I could be all that you need**

"I love you." Ren smiled watching the panic start to take over in Kyouko's mind. In a matter of seconds, he was beside her and swooping her into his arms and kissing the breath out of her.

"I love you, Kyouko." He hugged her to his chest wishing they could stay in the moment forever. "Why have I been waiting to say that to you?" Lifting her face to his he kissed the tip of her nose. "I love you, Kyouko." He said again finding that it was becoming his favorite phrase to say. "I love you. I love you." He repeated kissing both of her cheeks. "I have loved you for so long that I don't think I can contain it any longer." He said kissing her on the chin up to her mouth. Ren chuckled cupping her cheek. He leaned in to kiss her then with a quick glance to the locked door restrained himself.

"Ren?" Hesitant she touched his face noting that there was a sticky residue.

"Hmm?" He nuzzled her hand praying that he wasn't dreaming and if he was that he would never have to wake up.

Kyouko swallowed trying to spit out the words. "Do you," she paused shivering at the feeling of his tongue on her palm. "Do you want me?" She felt stupid for asking him when he was licking her fingers, pulling each one into his mouth with his eyes closed as if to saver the taste. He chuckled sucking lightly on her ring finger.

"We should get back to work." He said kissing the tips of her fingers. Then leaning in whispered, "Are you having naughty thoughts, Kyouko? Do you want to join me as I wash up?" She didn't have a chance to reply as he swept her up over his shoulder and carried her into the washroom.

It wasn't very small, at least not as small as Kyouko thought it should be. In her dressing room she had a sink and two chairs to sit on in front of two mirrors. She shared it with Kanae which she didn't have a problem with but when she saw how spoiled Ren was with his own room complete with a bathroom equipped with all the necessities she was only reminded of how much more important he was than her. If it got out that she was in the bathroom alone with him, she would be accused of trying to influence her way to the to. Ren might be ruined by the scandal, she worried her lip over the thought of his name being sullied by her existence.

"Perks of being a top star." Ren commented seeing her look around at everything. He set her down on the sink and reached behind her to grab a washcloth. He settled himself between her legs holding her captive. Noticing her unsettled expression, he smoothed her hair out of her face and kissed her forehead. "Relax, I'm only going to punish you a little. For pouring soda on my head."

She gulped mumbling under her breath about perverted emperors.

"What was that? Did you just call me a pervert?" Kyouko glowered wondering why she was worrying about him when he clearly didn't care. He had even mauled her in the hallway where anyone could see.

"Nothing." She sulked pushing on his chest to be let down. When he didn't budge her pout deepened. "You said that I could spray the soda at you. Why am I being punished?"

Ren smiled noting that she sounded more upset for his reason rather than the actual act of him punishing her. "Because I'm a pervert and I like you. Beside," wetting the washcloth he placed it in her hands, "I said you could do it. I never said you wouldn't be in trouble for it."

"Love." Kyouko corrected sullenly as she began to wipe at the sticky mess she had made.

He pulled his costume down so the fabric pooled loosely around his hips. "Sorry I didn't mean it like that. I meant I like to pick on you, because you're cute." Her hands faltered against his chest and she blushed at his compliment. "So cute that I don't know if I can trust myself alone with you."

Kyouko gasped, he pulled her hips and pressed the proof of his need for her against her. She could see the emperor lurking behind his smile. Thoughts of what he might do to her invaded her mind as she wiped at the sticky residue on his chest and neck. Her eyes wandered over the expanse of his chest as her hands smoothed over his broad muscles. Briefly she wondered what his skin tasted like. "Pervert," she berated herself trying to cease her train of thought.

"What was that?" The emperor gripped her chin forcing her to look up. "Are you calling me names again?"

"Nothing!" She cursed herself realizing that she had let the words slip out of her mouth.

"Nothing?" He mocked taking her washcloth. Kissing her cheek, he said, "You're nothing but trouble, you mean."

"Am not." She protested weakly, giving in to the lips that pressed to her mouth. It frightened her how easily he could seduce her. What was worse was the knowledge that she was overflowing with impure thoughts and he seemed to be able to read them.

"Finish cleaning Kyouko, we have to get back to work." She tried to take the cloth back but he held it out of her reach. At her questioning look he said, "Use your imagination. Since your brain is full of perverted thoughts, I'm sure you can figure out how to clean up the mess you made." He watched her jaw drop as she realized what he wanted her to do. "No?"

"I'm not doing that." Kyouko said looking around for a way to escape.

"You were so eager earlier, what happened?" Pushing against his chest, Kyouko tried to think of a way to explain why she felt so shy all of a sudden. How did she explain that her thoughts were filled with dirty things that she couldn't even comprehend? All she knew was that his presence made her think of things that she had never thought of before. She wanted to do things that she

had no experience with.

Dropping the cloth beside her he stood up straighter giving her some space. "I love you, Kyouko."

"You said that already." It amazed her that she could smile even when she found him irritating.

"Hush." He demanded but pressed his lips to her temple tenderly and whispered. "Let me finish. I love you, Kyouko, and I want you." A blush formed on his cheeks and she peeked up at him through her lashes. "It's fine with me if you don't want to do things. I know you're innocent and I can be patient. As long as you're mine, I don't mind waiting for you."

Pressing her lips together she leaned her head on his chest. "I don't feel innocent when I'm with you. It's like you said I've been thinking naughty things about you." She admitted in an almost inaudible whisper.

A coy smile formed on his lips, "I don't mind that either." He said kissing her hair. After a brief silence he checked a small wall clock groaning at the time. They had been gone from set far too long to be considered professionals.

He tried to step back to let her down but her legs wrapped around his waist kept him in place. "Kyouko, don't you think we should get back to work."

She gave him a pretty smile, enjoying the pink hue rising to his cheeks. "Yes." She admitted but tightened her legs about his waist and started to lick at the stickiness on his skin.

"Kyouko, don't tempt me." Ren strained to keep Kuon in check as the girl of his erotic fantasies ran her tongue up the column of his throat. Sighing he pulled her in for a hard domineering kiss. Kyouko moaned, feeling his arousal press into her. "You deserve so much more than being fucked on a bathroom sink. I won't do that to you. Not the first time anyway." He winked at her taking the wet cloth and swiping at her nose. "At least let me take you out to dinner first. Slow down a little, I promise that I will have you in my bed very soon."

Kyouko looked down embarrassed and unable to fight the tears that came from being rejected. She felt stupid for feeling bad when it was clear that he was only trying to restrain himself for her sake, but she couldn't help it. Her old wounds throbbed in her chest even as he hugged her close.

"You promise you won't change your mind? What if someone better comes along who is sexy and already good at that sort of thing? What if she's smart and nice and whatever it is that you like about me, but more than me and you fall in love with her? And what if," a hungry kiss silenced her concerns. Ren pulled her hips against his, rocking into her with a growl.

"If you don't get out of here right this second I will take your virginity on a bathroom sink, and I will not show you any sympathy when you are disappointed about not having whatever fairy tale dream you've concocted come true." She pouted as he lifted her off the sink and placed her feet on the floor. Then he took her chin and gave her a stern look. "If you ever imply that anyone could be prettier, sexier, or generally better than you in any way, I will be forced to punish you severely. I promise you will enjoy every second of torture even if you will be too embarrassed to own up to your own perversions."

His voice was light and teasing but Kyouko was still sulking. "You're the pervert." She mumbled but feeling bold she leaned up and kissed his cheek. "Thank you for that. It makes me feel beautiful, even if it's only in your eyes."

"You're killing me." He inhaled deeply pulling her to him. "Get out before I have my way with you on the bathroom floor." A devious smile spread across his face as he watched her eyes widen. "Because you're beautiful and sexy." He sent her out the room spanking her playfully as she pursed her lips.

"You'd never do that to me. Not for my first time anyway." Kyouko stated but instantly regretted it as the words brought images of their first time to her mind. "Will you take me out to dinner tonight?"

Ren raised an eyebrow. "Eager little thing, aren't you?" Brushing her hair out of her face Kyouko nodded. "Only if it's what you want. Don't do things just to make me happy. I love you too much to let you believe that you need to please me to keep me." He touched her face finding it hard to let her leave. "I'll take you out, wherever you want to go. Then I'll deliver you back to your hotel room, if you want me to. If you'd prefer to stay with me, however, I won't complain."

"I bet you wouldn't, pervert." Kyouko blushed allowing him to steal one last kiss before she left him to go make herself presentable.

Yashiro was disappointed to see Kyouko exit her dressing room completely dressed as Momiji. It wasn't that long ago that Koga had cryptically let on that he knew something about their favorite couple. It killed Yashiro that he wasn't in on whatever the secret was, but Koga said he was sworn to secrecy. Waiting for Ren by his dressing room he meant to ambush the star with questions but Kyouko came out first.

"Kyouko- chan!" The manager enthused running over to her. "Did you have a nice break?"

"Yashiro-san!" Kyouko jumped her eyes falling on the door he had been standing near. He concluded that meant that something had happened between the two. He hoped it didn't mean his charge had done something stupid again.

"Kyouko-chan." Koga greeted her. "We'll be filming next. _He_ won't hurt me will he? You know because your character confesses her love for me in this scene."

"What a rude thing to say. Ren-sama is a professional." Kyouko chided him, and Koga quirked an eyebrow at her choice of honorific. "And I believe he started in the industry before you so he is technically your sempai. You should show him more respect."

Koga stared at her blankly. "Don't be such a hero worshipper. He's human too."

"Yes, I am." Ren agreed coming up behind Koga and placing a hand on his shoulder. Though they were similar in height and build Koga flinched at the physical intrusion. There was a hostile aura about the man that Koga could only interpret as a warning for him not to get any ideas while filming. "Yukihito, can I send you on an errand for me?"

"Of course." Yashiro was eager to please his friend who already seemed irritated.

"I ordered something. Here," He handed him a slip of paper, holding it away from the nosy girl trying to peek at it. "Go to this shop for me and pick it up, please."

"Ren-sama." Kyouko whined suspecting that he was up to something. With a gentle hand on her head he shushed her.

"Patience, my love." Yashiro bounced hearing the endearment, as he read the paper. He was sure that he was swooning more than Kyouko but he didn't care.

"Mission accepted, I will return with your parcel in record time." Ren bowed his head mentally preparing himself for the weeks of upcoming torment he would face from his overzealous friend. The man was more obsessed with his and Kyouko's relationship than the president, and that man was a scary love monster.

"Shall we?" Koga asked Kyouko motioning towards the stage. "Though I'm probably not as fun as, Ren-sama." He batted his eyes and said the name breathily, causing Kyouko to blush. Ren laughed starting to warm up to Koga, as long as he kept a proper distance from Kyouko.

Ren pet Kyouko wishing her luck as director Morizumi grumbled for everyone to take their places. Kuresaki watched the exchange an unusually lively spark in his eyes, giving his otherwise passive expression a wicked tinge to it.

"What is it?" Ren asked taking a seat to watch the scene being filmed.

"Nothing, I was just casting a few of my future projects. Despite her lack of experience, I think that girl could work well for my next drama. Who do I ask, you or the manager?" Kuresaki inquired.

"Yashiro probably knows her schedule but I'd ask her first. She ultimately decides which roles to take." Kuresaki furrowed his brows frustrated by Ren's lack of interest.

"It's a rather more mature role. One I think she'd likely only be able to play if you were the lead." He hinted but only received a bored expression from Ren.

"Talk to Yashiro. He has both of our schedules mapped out for the next two years. If changes need to be made he's the only one either of us trusts to do it." Ren didn't want Kuresaki to know that he was interested in knowing how mature the drama was. He figured it couldn't be too bad but wasn't sure how much he trusted Kuresaki.

"Fine." Kuresaki gave up and turned his attention back to the scene on stage. "She is extremely good." He pondered over the girl. "It's almost like she is Momiji, it makes me want to see how she will create other characters. I didn't understand it before, but I'm starting to see why someone like you is entranced by her."

Ren had stopped listening, too caught up in every little movement Kyouko made.

"What are these, Ren?" Kyouko stormed into his dressing room, so annoyed with him that she didn't blush at the sight of him pulling his pants up. He was in the process of getting dressed so they could go out. She had been as well until she saw what Yashiro had left in her room after he returned from his errand. That's when she marched over to his room in nothing but the robe provided to her by production.

"I didn't know which one you would prefer, so I bought all the ones I knew you'd like. Some of them I ordered in multiple colors just for fun." Pulling her robe tighter she threw the few dresses she had managed to carry over at his feet. "If I knew you wouldn't want to wear a dress I would have bought you nice two piece outfits instead. Forgive me this once, and wear one of these. I swear that next time I will buy you attire that is more to your liking. Get dressed we have reservations." His tone implied that he wasn't going to argue with her about gifts but he knew she would still try.

"I don't care that they're dresses, you shouldn't have bought me anything. If you needed to buy something to appease your twisted desire to spend money lavishly you only should have gotten one. The least expensive one, in only one color." Jabbing him in the chest she did her best to intimidate him. Then his words caught up to her. "Reservations? Where do you think you're taking me to dinner? It better not be extravagant and overpriced."

Ignoring her tirade, he pushed her hand away and bent down to gather the garments. "Choose the one you like and I'll have Yashiro take care of the rest. We have reservations at a moderately priced, slightly glamorous restaurant that was shocked when I had Yashiro call them. He and Koga will be joining us of course, as I didn't want to burden you with the implications that would be made and the ensuing scandal."

"You just don't want there to be a reason for me to object to going to a fancy restaurant. What does moderately priced mean? I bet it means I couldn't afford it even if I paid in installments. Just because you're rich doesn't mean you should throw your money around like it's nothing. I won't be impressed by your overspending, and I won't be able to help you out if you become destitute." All of this was said as Ren placed the dresses in her arms and pushed her out the door.

"Go change, unless you want to be punished for making us late." Pouting Kyouko walked back to her room. "Just choose the one you like best and stop worrying about my money. I have more than enough to buy you a whole store and still not go bankrupt."

He winked seeing her small smile that she couldn't suppress. "Thank you." She said appreciating his generosity even though she didn't agree with the amount he spent on her. "But in the future, please restrain yourself. At least limit yourself to two things and don't get multiple colors."

"Yes, sweetheart I'll keep that in mind. Two things, one color. That doesn't apply though if I buy cheap things does it. I could buy two really expensive things, five moderately pricey things or fifty," Kyouko slammed her door not wanting to listen to his false compromise. She knew he would only pretend to tell Yashiro to take the dresses back, and have them sent to her home instead. Or worse he would take them back and have different outfits sent to her place. "That was rude Kyouko. Don't think I won't punish you later." A wicked smile formed on his face. "I'll just have to buy you some accessories to go with your new clothes. That ought to teach you to slam doors in my face."

"No thank you!" Kyouko shouted back at him as she neatly folded the maybe dresses in a pile. "I have no room for all of these as it is." She groaned quietly to herself. "They're all too perfect though. I'd feel like a princess in them. Curse that man for knowing what I like."

Finally settling on a dress she removed her robe and stepped into it. The door swung open and her new boyfriend stepped into the room taking in the sight of her in only a bra and panties. With a wolfish grin he shut the door.

"See, it isn't so fun having someone barge in while you're getting dressed, is it?" Kyouko fumbled trying to pull the dress up to cover herself. "Cute bra," he commented walking over to her and taking the dress from her awkward hands. He guided the cloth over her hips up to her chest and pulled the thin straps onto her arms. "Blue is a nice color on you, did you choose this one to match your undergarments? Unfortunately the bra has to go, though." He informed her skimming his hand up her exposed spine. "It's backless, you didn't think of that when you chose it did you? You were just hoping to entice me." Unhooking her bra, he kissed her shoulder.

His hands snaked around her waist to pull her to his chest. Kyouko placed her hands over his and leaned into him. Part of her wanted to suggest that they skip dinner and go to his hotel room, but she hadn't eaten much all day and her stomach grumbled. Chuckling in her ear he helped her finish getting out of her bra, and caught her face before she could lean up to kiss him.

"Slow down. If you kiss me now, we'll never make it to dinner." His hands smoothed out the skirt of her dress, it was a little too short for his liking but he knew she had chosen it to punish him. "You're showing an awful lot of skin. I should have bought you some shawls."

"Come on." Kyouko rolled her eyes and took his hand to pull him out the door. "We'll be late if you make me change into something more modest."

"Fine but if I catch Koga staring it's up to you to keep me from punching him." He warned only half joking as they walked out to his car where Koga and Yashiro were waiting. Koga whistled at Kyouko then quickly ducked into the backseat as he caught Ren's glare. Yashiro smiled at his favorite couple and compliment Kyouko on the dress, while congratulating Ren on having good taste.

 **A/N I think I need a beta reader, someone who can keep me on track. I have the original version of this and I'm going to post the last chapter for comparison in my one shot series Continuations, just that one chapter contains so many scenes that I ended up stretching out and heavily adding to in order to create a longer more torturous story. Anyway I'll post that and the last chapter of this story at the same time so look forward to that. I don't really like this chapter and I was actually going to end it at the sink and that was gonna be it for the story but I liked the teasing and it seemed more like Ren to want to spoil Kyouko first.**


	15. If You Could Only See

**Please tell me the truth  
You know that I'll keep believing  
Till I'm with you**

Kyouko glared at Ren feeling as though he had tricked her again. Before she could even buckle her seat belt, he placed a pair of strappy sandals in her lap, then he had informed her that there were more in the trunk. Even the box for the sandals looked and felt as if she could never afford it, and the crinkly paper surrounding the shoes inside had a luxurious quality to it. Kyouko groaned trying to calculate in her head how much he had spent on her in one day. To top it off Koga and Yashiro had vanished before the hostess could seat them.

"I said they were coming with us. I never said they'd be staying. Why would I take you on a date with those two?" Ren laughed at his girlfriend angrily placing more food on his plate. "You'll be the one nursing my stomach ache if you force me to eat all this."

Kyouko shrugged, "I guess you just won't get laid then." Snorting a laugh, he asked her to repeat her words. "You heard me."

"I guess I'm not eating then. If my punishment for getting sick is not getting you into bed, then why would I eat all of this?" Pointing a finger at him then to the plate on the table in front of him she gave him a silent order to eat. "I'll eat this is you promise to let me eat all I want later."

"Just eat now. Why would you wait until later?" She asked not comprehending why he would want her to promise such a thing. She shrugged it off eating her meal and savoring the expensive flavor. Her face contorted as she fretted over enjoying food that was overpriced but delicious enough for her to understand why.

When warm jolts radiated through her thigh she dropped the fork she was about to place in her mouth. The room suddenly became dim thanks to a large shadow looming over her. The eyes of the emperor greeted her when she looked up at the man now occupying a chair he had pulled up beside her. She looked around at the other occupants hoping none of them could see how close he was leaning in to her or his hand under her skirt resting on her bare thigh.

"I would like to eat all I want now, but I think that the other diners would be disturbed by all the noise you'd make if I did." Squeezing her thigh, he leaned in to speak in her ear.  
The meaning of his earlier words finally dawned on her and she gripped his hand on her thigh. "Ren-sama, please." She looked down giving him a pretty pout.

"Playing submissive again?" Ren teased taking pleasure in her soft pleading voice. He turned to her plate and ordered her to eat. Lifting her fork back up she obeyed him but her food kept spilling due to her shaking as his fingers gently massaged her thigh. "You can tell me to stop, and lecture me about doing flirtatious things in public."

"You call it flirtatious? I call it lewd and provocative." She tried to sound angry but his fingers inching up her thigh caused her to stumble over her words. "Ren." She pleaded with her eyes for him to stop.

With a chuckle he removed his hand. "I'm only teasing you a bit. Relax." He pulled his plate over to himself to pick at the food and appear to be eating. There were butterflies filling his stomach to the point that he was even less hungry than he usually was. Part of him wished that Koga and Yashiro had joined them at the table instead of heading over to the open bar to give them privacy. Maybe then his nerves would have quieted and he wouldn't have to tease her to occupy his mind.

"Why am I in love with a guy who does nothing but bully me." Kyouko grumbled as she picked at her food. Her stomach flipped when he kissed her hair. "Hey!" She looked around checking for reactions from the other diners.

"Kyouko, nobody is watching us in here."

"That's where you're wrong." An obnoxious voice cut in and a plate was set across from them. Koga smiled at them as he took a seat. "Geez I know you two are always obvious on set, but we're out in the real world now. People have eyes and not all of them like either of you enough to keep silent about that little display of affection." He nodded to a man seated a few tables away from them, who looked away as soon as Ren looked over at him. "Some men take offense to you being more popular. Not all of your rivals are as cool as I am. Then there are the women, who would probably maim this poor kid just for sitting next to you."

"No one is going to harm Kyouko." Ren's eyes grew cold and his arm circled her shoulders protectively.

"You are too possessive to use your brain." Koga shook his head placing his palm over it in annoyance. How was it that they could be so unaware of their surroundings and not have had tabloid scandals? "Kyouko come sit on this side."

"She's staying right here." Holding her closer Ren glared at Koga. "I said I'd pay for your dinner only if you left us alone."

"I can't leave the two o you love fools alone. Neither of you can behave yourselves, not even in public. Tsuruga-san can't be seen showing too much attention to a female co-star, and Kyouko-chan is too innocent to be left alone with you. You're on your own after dinner though, kid. Once he gets you back to his room, I'm afraid there is nothing I can do to protect you." Koga teased Kyouko pulling her up and forcing her to switch seats with him.

Despite how much sense he made, Ren resented his logic. In truth, he was beginning to regret taking her out to dinner instead of ordering in. Koga smiled as he and Kyouko chatted, and he lightly teased her for being cute. Choosing to ignore their conversation he picked at his food sullenly. His eyes wandered to the other occupants in the restaurant until they landed on the man who had been watching Kyouko and him.

The man looked oddly familiar. "I suppose if I thank you now, you'd never let me forget it." He commented dryly as he placed the man as a reporter he had encountered before. He could hit himself for his carelessness.

"No need to thank me, just pay for our meal. Kyouko-chan, I heard that there's a really yummy dessert here, split it with me?" Koga waved their waitress over ready to order a rather expensive item off the menu.

"No, we can't make Tsuruga-san pay for that." Unintentionally reverting back to her formal speech Kyouko protested standing to take the menu from Koga. Receiving a pointed look from Ren she fell back into her chair. "I meant to say that Ren-sama has already ordered so much food for me. It would be unfair for me to ask for more. He spent a lot on me today and I could never pay him back."

Giving her a wink Koga stated. "I told you all you have to do to repay him is let him eat you. He is nothing more than a wolf, after all, and as his master you have to feed him. it may be the only way to keep him tame."

Kyouko turned red and looked to Ren for help but her boyfriend was avoiding looking at her in an attempt to hide the deep red creeping into his own cheeks. There were images filling up his head and he kicked Koga under the table as punishment for perverting his thoughts even more than they already were.

"The two of you are too cute. Yashiro-san was giddy with excitement as we were watching you from the bar. That's probably why he didn't catch the snoop over there and come help you out himself." Koga said after he finished ordering his dessert. "Are you gonna eat that?" He asked pointing to Ren's food then motioning to his own empty plate. "I'm still hungry."

Passively Ren pushed his plate to Koga, but he didn't turn to look at either of his companions. Koga smiled and winked at Kyouko, knowing that Ren must be having a difficult time not being able to show her the affection he wanted to. Kyouko was blushed, stealing glances at Ren as Koga continued to speak.

"Kyouko-chan, all you really have to do is stay close to him. When you're in love the other person's presence is worth more than all the money in the world." He said dropping his teasing tone. "Hey look dessert!" He exclaimed seeing an elegant ice cream sundae with flecks of gold sprinkles. "Thank you so much Ren-sama."

Their dessert was large enough for five people and Kyouko wasn't sure how edible flecks of gold could be, but she was sure that ice cream shouldn't cost as much as it did. Koga consumed most of it with Kyouko taking a couple of bites before giving up on the massive mountain of cream, chocolate, caramel and sprinkles.

"In fact I think that you should let him buy you more things. That would make him really happy, wouldn't it Ren?" Koga licked the bowl not caring one bit about hogging most of the food on someone else's dime. "Hey can I have…"

"Koga-san, I think it's time for us to end the evening now." Ren uttered politely as the waitress handed his credit card back to him along with a copy of the receipt.

Glaring at Ren, Koga whispered to Kyouko, "Tell him you're still hungry. I want more." Bowing her head to Ren, Kyouko stood up ready to leave as well.

"Thank you for dinner Tsuruga-san." Her politeness was mostly a show for the other diners but it irritated Ren none the less.

"Ren-sama," with his hand on his shoulder, Koga imitated Kyouko's pouting face. "Please."

"Yashiro-san, are you ready to go?" Ren asked his manager who had walked over to the group with hearts in his eyes. Ren and Kyouko were so in sync, Yashiro could hardly contain himself.

"Kyouko-chan, it seems our companions have misplaced their brains. Shall we leave without them?" Shoving Koga off of his shoulder, Ren walked over to Kyouko and the two of them began to leave the restaurant.

"Hey, wait for me." Koga whined as Yashiro left him too.

Sitting in the front seat on the way back to the hotel, Kyouko was regretting her decision to not ask Ren for more food. If she had then they could still be at the restaurant, and her heart wouldn't have been pounding so hard against her rib cage. It wasn't that she didn't want to be with Ren physically, but she didn't know if she was mentally prepared to be with a man. Sensing her nerves, Ren took her hand and gave it a squeeze. His eyes never left the road but Kyouko knew that they were filled with sympathy.

"Awe!" A chorus from the back seat reminded them that they were not alone in the car. They quickly disengaged their hands and continued the car ride in nervous silence.

"Listen, Ren." Koga said leaning forward in his seat. "I doubt I have to say this, but as the only big brother I've seen hanging around that girl who is not your perverted alter ego, I feel that I should step up to the plate. Well there's Yashiro, but he's more likely to talk you into tricking her into bed then out of it." Koga contemplated Yashiro staring starry eyed at Kyouko. He figured the girl was safe enough with the overzealous manager but he still didn't trust Yashiro to put Kyouko before Ren.

"I would never trick her." Ren glowered, instantly angered at the suggestion that he would ever do anything to Kyouko without her permission.

"Yeah, like I said, I doubt you need to hear it, but as her only reasonably sane older brother I have to say it." Gripping Ren's shoulder he attempted to assert dominance over the hard muscled man. Hoping he sounded menacing enough he threatened, "If you ever make her cry again, I will hurt you. If you trick her, lie to her, or in any way force her into something she doesn't want, I will end you. And if you ever screw up and somehow lose her, I'll be there for her and once she's mine I will make it my life's goal to keep her happy." Feeling creeped out by his own serious attitude he shook himself out of it and placed his cheerful smile back on his face. "But I'm sure that's exactly what you plan to do so we won't ever have a problem right?"

Ren gave no reply as he parked his car and unbuckled himself. Yashiro and Kyouko exited the care in a hurry to get away from an angered Ren.

"You don't have to be such a grouch about it. I said knew I didn't have to say it." Koga grumbled daring to look into the eyes staring at him through the rear view mirror.

With a sigh Ren calmed himself down and turned his gaze to the girl waiting for him with his manager.

"I'll try to be good enough for her. You can keep me in line, like today. Just don't expect me to be nice to you." Ren exited the car to join Kyouko.

"Those two," Koga shook his head following them into the hotel lobby and to the elevators.

 **A/N: I'm alive! This chapter was supposed to continue on and be the last one, but I decided that it has been too long since I last updated so here it is. I wrote it two weeks ago but I have been super busy and unable to edit. Fortunately, after tomorrow I will have four days of nothing to do, except work on stories.**


	16. Find A Way

**Open up your heart tonight  
I could be all that you need**

"You don't have to be nervous." Ren reassured Kyouko as she fumbled with the straps of her sandals. Her fingers trembled so much that she couldn't get the shoes off. "Here," falling to his knees in front of her he helped remove them then took both of her hands in his. "We could just go to bed. I won't make you do anything you're not ready for." He used all of his acting skills to hide his own nerves so that he could focus on soothing Kyouko's.

Kyouko nodded still not sure if she wanted to have sex with him so soon. They had just had their first date, and it had been the first date of her life. Not to mention Koga was there and Yashiro had been watching from the sidelines the whole time. Ren helped her to stand on her shaking legs and turned her in the direction of the bed. A small amount of relief came to her as she noted that his pulse was erratic. There was comfort in knowing that the anticipation and anxiety of the situation had some effect on him.

"I love you, Kyouko." He spoke leaning down to her shoulder then gave her a gentle shove over to the bed where another package sat. "Don't even complain, you already know I can't help myself." His words were playful but he struggled to keep his voice from quivering.

An exhausted sigh was his only answer as Kyouko stepped over to the present and pulled the top off. Curiously the large box held only a letter addressed to her and her corn stone. She turned questioning eyes to him and he motioned for her to open the letter. Ren held his breath as she flipped the envelope flap open and pulled out a simple white piece of paper.

"Corn?" The word was written boldly in the center of the paper. He had written it down and left it for her, because he knew that if he had tried to tell her, that he would back out and make excuses as to why he shouldn't tell her. He didn't trust himself to not be a coward. "Corn?" Kyouko turned the card over searching for a clue to the meaning of the word. It was impossible for it to mean what she thought it meant. "Kuon?" The opposite side was the same only, Kuon, was written in the bold black ink. "Kuon, is it Hizuri Kuon?"

She looked up expecting an answer, only what she found was a green eyed Tsuruga Ren tossing something to her. Catching the tiny plastic case, she noted that it was for contacts. Tears sprung to her eyes as she stared at the case then looked at the letter.

"Corn?" She cried earnestly, finally connecting all the pieces of a puzzle that she wasn't aware she had stored in her head, together. From the very first moment he had seen the corn stone, to meeting up with him in Guam and she had mistaken him for Corn. Because he was Corn.

Kyouko opened her eyes to accuse him of lying to her but the broken look in his eyes was too much like a frightened child. Unable to think straight while looking at him she excused herself politely before running to the bathroom and locking herself inside.

Tears in his eyes, Ren nodded his head agreeing with Kuon in his mind telling him he was an idiot for not expecting her reaction. Dejected, he sat on the bed with a stream of tears flowing down his face.

"Is this a ploy to keep me, or some sort of apology? Does he buy me things out of fear? Does he truly believe that money and material goods are all he has to offer?" Kyouko asked the box she found waiting for her in the bathroom.

She smiled at the box. Despite her natural inclination to protest to being doted on so lavishly, she had to admit that it felt nice to have constant reminders of his affection. Even if she was mad at him, she couldn't help but to be filled with warmth knowing he wanted her to have nice things. He would be the one person who knew just how badly she wanted to be able to buy those things for herself.

"I don't know whether to hit you or kiss you." She confessed exiting the bathroom after taking a brief shower.

"You're welcome to do both." Ren said looking up to find her in the night dress he had left in the bathroom for her. "You found your present."

She smiled at him shyly. "I'm not really sure if this suits me. It's a little short and I think it cost more than the dress I wore." It had cost more than the dress and shoes combined but he wasn't going to admit to that. "I'm sorry I needed to be alone for a bit." She explained noting the tear stains on his cheeks.

Walking over to him, she held out her hands for him to take. He took them grateful that she would still allow him to touch her.

"You lied to me. You lied over and over and you let me believe that you were three different people." He nodded bringing one of her hands to his chest and trapping it over his pounding heart.

"I'm sorry. I was only trying to make you happy. More than anything, your happiness is what is most important to me. If it makes me a bad boyfriend to lie then I'll accept my punishment, but I doubt that I'll stop telling you stories to make you smile."

"Corn?" He looked up tentatively, wondering if she was angry that he admitted he would continue to lie. "You're not a fairy?" A light stream of tears flowed down her face, accompanied by a pout that made him want to hold her tight. Out of all his stories and lies that was what she cared about?

"No, sweetheart I'm afraid I'm human. Ow!" Her fists beat against his chest as she threw curses at him.

"You're such a jerk. You're a stupid fake prince, why didn't you tell me?" Too emotionally drained to hit him any longer, she wrapped her arms around him for a tight hug and slid comfortably into his lap. "I was worried about you and here you were the whole time."

He hugged her back nuzzling his face in her neck. "I'm sorry."

"I don't forgive you." Kyouko huffed pulling away from him enough to look him in the eyes. Nuzzling his nose to hers he pouted, pleading for forgiveness. "No, you should have said something sooner. The moment you knew who I was you should have told me. If you had we might have been together already, you know that right? You cheated yourself out of valuable time with me." Soft kisses landed on her cheeks in a silent attempt to coax her into forgiving him. Fighting her smile Kyouko pressed her palm to his lips and pushed him away.

Laying kisses against her hand he encircled her waist with his arms and pulled her closer to himself.

"I don't think I can forgive myself either. Knowing that we may have been so much closer if only I had revealed myself sooner, I am annoyed with myself for being too afraid to speak. But I was afraid, Kyouko. And I didn't think that I deserved you." Though she could tell his words were truthful, she knew he was only saying them to placate her. No matter how undeserving of her love he felt, he was desperate to keep it. "Kyouko." She shook her head and refused to look at his puppy dog face, knowing that it would make her melt in his arms. "Kyouko, I love you." He said kissing her nose with so much tenderness she almost gave in.

"You don't play fair." Kyouko groaned wrapping her arms around his neck to give him a quick peck on the lips.

Searching her eyes, he rubbed their noses together once more. "Of course not. If I played fair, then you would win every argument. That wouldn't be any fun would it?"

"For me it would." Kyouko replied pouting up at him. "Do I call you Ren or Kuon? I suppose Corn isn't an option." She asked confused by the duel feelings of sadness and relief that corn had been with her for so long. It would have been nice if he had told her sooner, but at the same time she appreciated how he pretended to be a fairy for her.

"You could call me, stupid jerk, for all I care. As long as it's me you love." He replied kissing her temple. "Do you forgive me?" There was a deep fear within him, that when he told her the truth she would never forgive him. He hoped that after she had time to think, she would still love him.

"No." Kyouko answered playfully and turned her head away when he attempted to capture her lips.

Landing on her cheek, he kissed his way to her jaw. He licked along her jaw to her ear, then sucked at the delicate skin down the column of her neck. When he felt her head begin to lull back he tightened his grip around her waist and slipped a hand into her hair cradling her head. Gripping his shoulders, she moaned and pulled herself tighter to him. An oddly pleasurable discomfort was growing between her legs and she squeezed her thighs together.

"Ren," he pulled away and looked into her apprehensive amber eyes. "Kuon?"

Mentally berating himself he pulled her head down to rest on his chest. "We don't have to do anything. We could snuggle under the covers, and I'll be happy to hold you while you sleep. I like holding you." She nodded and closed her eyes as his lips rested on her forehead.

"Will you still love me in the morning?" Kyouko asked in a fearful whisper.

Lifting her chin up he stared down at her, wishing he could wash away the years of neglect that had fostered her fear of love.

"I have loved you since we played together as children. That love has only grown stronger, to the point that I would defy fate to keep you by my side. You can command me to stay away from you or to stop touching you, and I would obey despite the pain that would bring me. But not even you could make me stop loving you. That is an order I could never follow."

"Then, I believe you promised to teach me. Show me what it feels like to be touched by someone who loves me." Rising up she kissed him gently and turned her body so she could face him.

Giving in to her demands, Kuon fell back keeping her lips connected to his with a firm grip on the back of her head. Their tongues danced passionately. Kyouko dominated their kiss, driven by an overwhelming need to be his. Breaking the kiss, she laid a trail down his chin and to his neck. He had taught her one thing, and she wanted to impress him with how well she had learned. She kissed and licked her way over his neck until she found a spot that elicited a moan. It was there that she bit down causing him to growl and grip her hips which were straddling his. Removing her teeth, she licked at the wound to ease the pain, then she kissed and sucked at the flesh to create her mark. When she finished she continued down to his chest unbuttoning his shirt in a hurry and shoving it off his arms. She growled in frustration to find a white undershirt where she wanted to find his naked chest.

Kuon allowed her to explore, amused by her urgent need to undress him. His timid, well-mannered maiden was in a hurry to have sex with him. He helped her strip his undershirt off of himself and let her continue her explorations down to his stomach. It wasn't until she had removed his belt and unbuttoned his pants, that he stopped her. He took her hands in his before she could push his pants down and he pulled her up to his face.

"Slow down." He admonished tenderly. Cupping her face, he kissed her as he rose up to lay her on the bed. "Why are you in such a hurry."

Sulking Kyouko looked away from him. She didn't want to admit to the fear that had been driving her to rush things and act impulsively. How could she tell him that she wanted to get it over with, without making him think that she didn't want to do it?

"Kyouko?" He kissed her temple and circled his arms around her to hold her close in a comforting embrace. "Do you want to do this?"

Nodding her head, she exclaimed, "I do." Embarrassed by her own enthusiasm she lowered her voice. "I mean, I want to, but I know that I'll be bad at it. I just want to get it over with and learn quickly so that you won't be left disappointed next time."

A sad smile crossed his lips and he shook his head at her. It made him happy to know that she wanted to please him, but he couldn't believe that she thought he would be disappointed.

"I'm scared Ren." Kyouko admitted when he said nothing. "I've never done this before, and you have. What if," she wanted to ask him if he would miss the touch of old lovers, if she couldn't please him. She wanted to know if he would stay with her even if she never learned how to satisfy him, but the thought of him settling for such a plain and boring woman made her angry at herself.

"Close your eyes and put your hands above your head." He commanded after a moment of silent contemplation.

Despite being confused and annoyed by his response to her honesty, she complied. Resting her hands above her head on the pillow, she looked up at him questioningly. Feeling comforted by his warm smile she allowed her eyes to drift closed and waited for further instructions.

A strong hand clasped around both of her wrists and for a moment Kyouko felt a twinge of fear. She reminded herself who she was with and took a deep calming breath. Kuon smiled at her submission and kissed her cheek.

"First, there is no way that you could disappoint me." He spoke smoothly, distracting her from the hand gliding down her body over the soft material of her night dress. "Second, there's no reason to rush. I want to do some things to make you squirm first."

Kyouko gasped at the feeling of his hand slipping under her night dress in between her thighs.

"You alright?" He asked pausing his movements until she gave a slight nod. "All you have to say is stop." Touching the cotton underwear, he gave her a moment to breath. "Of course you could say other things as well. You can make as much noise as you want to, I won't mind."

"Pervert." She accused before releasing a loud moan as he slipped his hand into her panties and cupped her sex. Her eyes flew open and he winked at her before sinking his fingers into the downy curls to explore her warm wet folds. "Kuon." His name came out as a breathy moan.

Gentle hands rubbed her clit as his lips sought out the tender flesh of her neck. Squeezing her eyes shut she threw her head back gasping and whimpering. She felt vulnerable. At the mercy of the man trailing kisses down to the heaving swells of flesh at her chest, and to her surprise she enjoyed being in his control. Even when his hand released its grip on her wrists to pull the front of her dress down, she obediently kept her arms raised above her head as he had commanded.

With one hand teasing her clit and the other kneading her right breast, he nuzzled her left nipple and licked it lovingly. Deciding that her cries of pleasure weren't loud enough he sucked her nipple into his mouth and bit down on it. His action caused her to scream out and arch into him. Chuckling he moved the hand in her underwear further down to her entrance. Her legs twitched and she whimpered biting back another loud cry. A single finger pushed into her cautiously, as he lifted his face from her chest to watch her face for any indication that she didn't like the intrusion. She became quiet, her only movements the involuntary quivering of her thighs.

"Kyouko?" Amber eyes fluttered open clouded with lust. He held her gaze as he slowly pumped his finger inside of her.

"Hhhaa!" She rocked her hips into his hand. Ren leaned down to take her lips in a tender kiss as he slipped a second finger inside of her. "Mm." Kyouko broke the kiss gasping for air.

"You alright?" He asked amazed by his own restraint. It was easier to remain gentle than he feared it would be.

"Yes," her breathy response was followed by a curse that he had never imagined hearing from her.

With a chuckle he returned to kissing her as his hand continued to pump at a torturously slow pace inside of her. Unable to keep still Kyouko brought her hands down, sinking them into his hair and tugging him closer.

"Ren!" His slow steady rhythm was starting to bother her. She wanted to beg him to go faster, but the words wouldn't come out. Clawing at his shoulders she bucked her hips in sync with the fingers inside of her.

Sensing her frustration, he slowed down. She bit her lip and spit out a litany of curses.

"Just say it." Through heavy lidded eyes she saw the wicked grin on his face. "Tell me what you want."

Frustrated by his games she heaved a loud sigh and said, "I want you inside of me."

"I am inside of you." He drove his fingers in deeper to prove the truth of his statement.

"Ren, please." Eyes glistening with unshed tears of need she pleaded with him. "You said you'd give me whatever I want."

"That sounds like something I would say. If you want something though, then you have to say it. I am not a mind reader." There was a dark edge to his voice. It promised raw passion and carnal pleasure, all she needed to do was ask for it. "Say it, Kyouko." His hand gripped her chin forcing her to look him in the eyes. "If you don't then you'll never get what you want."

Suddenly his speed increased effectively erasing all coherent thought from Kyouko's head. Lost in a sea of electrifying pleasure she threw her head back his names spilling from her lips as the waves crashed over her threatening to drown her. Her words came out as labored gasps and whimpers as she gave herself over to the floating sensation elicited by his touch.

"Kyouko." Kuon shuddered feeling her inner walls squeeze his fingers as she experienced her first orgasm.

The look of pure satisfaction on her face was almost enough to send him over the edge with her. It took her a moment to open clouded eyes to watch him settle himself between her thighs. With a start she noted that he had somehow removed his remaining clothing without her noticing. The sight of his full throbbing member made her stomach stir and her thighs clenched reflexively around his hips.

"You alright?" A hand on her face brought her attention to his concerned expression. She nodded cupping her hand over his and nuzzling her face against it.

"You always make me feel safe." The blush coloring his cheeks made her smile. It made her feel good to know that she could cause such an affect in him.

Kuon gave her a seductive look as he held up a condom. Her thighs quivered as she watched him open it and proceed to put it on. Unconsciously she sat up reaching a hand out to touch him. Holding his gaze, she leaned up to kiss him as her fingers rested on his manhood. She felt him go tense as she stroked him lightly.

"I love you. Whoever you may think you are, and no matter what you did that makes you feel so unworthy of love. It doesn't matter to me." Tears stinging his eyes he allowed her to pull him into a kiss.

Their tender kiss lead them back down to the bed with him nestled between her thighs. With a shaking hand Kyouko guided his penis to her entrance.

"I love you." A breathy whisper against her lips soothed away some of the discomfort as he pushed in. With one swift motion he entered her then bit back the urge to move his hips more.

She had braced herself for the pain she'd been told would come. Jaw clenched, eyes squeezed shut and hands gripping his hips to keep him still, Kyouko waited for it to hurt. There was a feeling of being stretched, the sensation of muscles and nerves coming alive inside of her. It was disconcerting and not quite comfortable, but it didn't really hurt.

Giving a grunt she yanked at his hips. There was a growing need inside of her, an ember burning in the pit of her stomach and she knew that he was the only one who could put it out. Kuon groaned rocking his hips, and Kyouko gave a frustrated cry as the ember grew.

"Ah." She clenched her thighs around his hips wrapping her legs behind his back as he began to pull out. She feared that he meant to stop before he could put out the flames burning her up inside.

"Relax." Kuon commanded taking ahold of her thighs and loosening her legs grip on him. "I'm not going anywhere." With his eyes closed he savored the sound of her voice, and the feel of her thighs trembling in his hands. Inhaling a steadying breath, Kuon began to move inside of her.

"Ren!" She threw her head back to gasp his names. A chorus of Kuon, Ren, and even Corn echoed in his ears as he expertly rocked his hips. Kyouko yanked fistfuls of his hair, urgently pulling his face to hers and capturing his mouth once again.  
"Kyouko!" Fingers digging into his flesh she arched her back as she felt waves of pleasure crash together inside of her. It felt like too much of him was filling her up, but strangely it also felt as if she would never have enough of him. "Kyouko."

Ren couldn't catch his breath, nothing in his life had ever felt so amazing. No other woman had ever felt like they belonged in his arms. He wanted the moment to last forever but he could feel himself growing closer to his release with every spasm of her inner walls. Losing grip on his control he drove into her faster than he intended until he was gasping in her ear as he felt his seed spill into the condom.

"Mm!" Kyouko clung to him, her whole body tensing up as the strong waves of pleasure mixed with the discomfort of being penetrated. Her brain was a haze and her limbs felt as if they were melting. Her tensed muscles lost their strength, falling limply to the bed as she was suddenly hit by fatigue.

"That was better than I ever dreamed." Kuon whispered above her. Tender fingers brushed the damp hair from her brow.

"Pervert." Kyouko accused, opening her eyes to fix him with a stern glare. "I bet you had all sorts of fantasies keeping you up at night."

Flicking her nose, he chuckled in her ear. "You're the only one who understands me." He rolled off of her and reached down to discard the condom before pulling her to lay on top of his chest. "I got you another present."

"No!" She whined but she was too tired to fight off his hands that placed a small box in one of hers. "You have used up your present quota for the next three years."  
"I have a present quota?" She nodded against his chest, ready to set some rules.

"No more presents, and if you must pay for something it cannot exceed ten dollars."

Quirking an eyebrow, he sat up, depositing her onto the mattress. "I can spend my money however I want. And if I want to spend it on nice things for my girlfriend I will." Before she could protest he held a finger indicating he wasn't finished. "However, if you must limit me I can agree to ten very expensive presents a month, five moderately priced gifts and," he took a moment to contemplate the numbers before finishing, "Fifty inexpensive necessities, a month."

Her jaw dropped and she vehemently shook her head. "No way! You can get my one present a month. One, and we will switch off paying for meals. Any other expenses I may have, I'll handle myself."

Sighing he countered, "Ok, ten inexpensive things a month, three very expensive gifts, four expensive ones, and five moderately priced ones."

Rolling her eyes Kyouko replied, "If you ever want a repeat of tonight, you'll let the presents go all together."

"I like buying you presents though, and I'm not interested in having sex if it isn't what you want to do. So if you're going to take one away…"

"Two moderately priced presents, and one expensive one, and a very expensive one if it's a special occasion." Kyouko interrupted annoyed that her bluff hadn't worked. He had said she could have anything she asked for but he wasn't doing as she said.

"A week?"

"A month!" She glared at his wide grin before breaking into a smile herself. "You tricked me again."

"Yeah." He shrugged watching her play with the box he had placed in her hand. "You can wait to open it, since I've exceeded my quota."

Shaking her head, she set the box on the nightstand. "Thank you, for wanting to spoil me, but I really only want this right now." With a hand over his heart she pushed him down and snuggled into his arms.

"Me too." He confided as he hugged her close and kissed her hair.

 **A/N: Sorry it's been so long, I actually thought I had already posted this. I couldn't get the sex scene to come out like I wanted it to. I've been super busy and a little frazzled but hey at least I got this out. There is just something lacking in the sex scene for me, I don't know. It's done now, though there is a short bonus Kanae chapter.**


	17. Chapter 17

Kanae felt as if the two had tricked her in some way. Before she had left they weren't even speaking and in the two days she was gone they had not only made up but had become a couple. She wanted to know what they did whenever they vanished together or when Kyouko sneaked out of their hotel room to go see him, but she dared not ask. How could she ask her best friend about such private moments, when she couldn't even see the girl as a woman. Kyouko was supposed to be an innocent maiden.

"Mo! It's only two days. You don't cling to me like this when I have to go somewhere." Her words fell on deaf ears as she watched the two say their goodbyes.

Ren had another job to get to, and Kyouko wasn't very happy to see him go. When it came time for him to leave, Kanae spotted them sneak off together and she followed them. Blushing from head to toe she watched them share a passionate kiss. She couldn't believe them; anyone could just walk by but there they were as if they hadn't a care in the world.

"I hope you two use protection." Kanae almost found the blush on Kyouko's cheeks endearing, if it wasn't for such a perverted reason she would even have thought it was cute.

"Moko-san!." Kyouko jumped away from the tall man as if he had burned her. "How long have you been there?" She stared down at her feet, trying to control the redness of her cheeks. Ren pat her head and kissed her on the temple.

Kanae rolled her eyes, at the gesture. "Long enough." She sneered crossing her arms and glaring at her best friend. There was some relief in knowing that Kyouko was still modest enough to blush, though the fact that she hadn't answered the questioned hadn't gone unnoticed by Kanae.

"Kotonami-san." Ren called out to her, and lifted a colorful bag out to her.

"What is it?" Kanae asked, curious after seeing all of the new clothes he had gotten Kyouko. Kyouko had explained that he had traded in the dresses he had bought her for clothes. He was always doing that, buying something really expensive so Kyouko would talk him into buying things that were more cost efficient. Kanae wondered if Kyouko knew he was tricking her into accepting more things for the same price as his original present.

"It's a present." Irked by his mocking tone Kanae stepped over to them to take the bag.

"How come Moko-san gets a present?" Kyouko asked but if she was jealous she hid it well. Kanae thought she seemed only curious to know what was in the bag.

"Because my girlfriend put a cap on the number of presents I'm allowed to give her a month." Ren answered indignantly. Then with a defiant smile he added. "I found a loophole. And since it's a present for Kanae and not you, I can spend as much money as I want. As long as she agrees to share it with you for one of your girl's nights."

Kanae peaked into the bag to find overpriced spa and beauty products. She had bought a few of the inexpensive packages of clay masks before and given one to Kyouko. Ren had given her a tub of what Kanae recognized as being a very high end and sought after brand of mask.

"Ren." Kyouko whined at her boyfriend as he walked away from them.

"It's a deal right, Kotonami-san. I'll buy you things, if you promise to share with Kyouko." Kanae glared at the love fool and handed the bag to Kyouko.

"That man is annoyingly likable."


End file.
